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Tuesday, 30 October 2018
Under the slogan "Replace, reduce and refine", the Netherlands must be free of animals by 2025 at the latest. But, according to scientists, it is an unachievable goal.
The Scientific Program Focus & # 39; NTR observes Wednesday experiments on animals that scientists consider essential.
Immunotherapy, a promising cancer treatment recently awarded by a Nobel Prize, has its origin in research on mice. Researcher Peter Friedl shows it to Elisabeth van Nimwegen in his laboratory at the Nijmegen University Medical Center. Through a window of mice, he can watch for weeks how immunotherapy fights cancer by killing diseased cells.
The surgeon André Bremers Elisabeth also discovers what laboratory animals produce. Through animal testing, it is able to stain cancerous tissue with a fluorescent substance. As a result, Bremers has more certainty during the operation that no more pieces of tumor remain behind. This is important because residual cancer cells can again become a dangerous tumor
According to many scientists, the use of laboratory animals for basic research and for the authorization of drugs is inevitable. But a mouse is not the same thing as a human being. All drugs capable of curing mice do not have the same effect in humans. Diederik Jekel talks with Hans Clevers, head of research at the Hubrecht Institute, about advanced 3D cell cultures with which he makes mini-organs. The advantage of these organoids is that they are made from human tissues. But this method also has disadvantages. "A human being, a mouse or a monkey, is more than the sum of its parts. It must finally be shown that it is also true in an integral body, "says Clevers. Organoids are therefore a good complement to animal testing, but can not yet replace animal testing.
Elizabeth discovered how they could replace animals with veterinary experience. Cats hate being taken by strangers and swallowing pills. Veterinarians can still practice this with a doll. In addition, students attend anatomy classes on deceased pets
Unfortunately, these alternatives are not a solution for medical research. Elisabeth and Diederik go through a moral struggle. Is it true that we are harassing laboratory animals for our benefit?
Presentation: Diederik Jekel and Elisabeth van Nimwegen
"Focus", Wednesday, October 31 at 20:45 at the NTR on NPO 2.
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