Animal Research at the University of Bonn
The University of Bonn conducts animal testing as part of its research in medicine, the natural sciences and agriculture. As a University of Excellence, it is conscious of its responsibility toward the animals on which it experiments, ensuring that they are given maximum protection and upholding all ethical principles and provisions of animal welfare law.
As one of the first signatories of the Transparent Animal Testing initiative (Initiative Transparente Tierversuche; Website in German only), the University of Bonn undertakes to provide transparent information about animal testing, play an active role in helping to shape the public debate surrounding animal experiments, share experiences and communicate details of its activities.
FAQs
Facts and figures
§ 7 of the German Animal Welfare Act (Tierschutzgesetz, TierschG; Website in German only) defines animal testing as, among other things, “intervention or treatment for experimental purposes on animals where it might bring pain, suffering or harm to these animals.” It serves to answer scientific questions and may only be conducted if it is essential for one of the purposes listed in § 7a TierSchG and is ethically justifiable. These purposes include basic and translational research as well as animal testing for use in training, advanced training and continual professional development.
Animal testing is used to obtain scientific findings. However, it is only permitted if the experiment in question cannot be done in any other way. Alternative methods, including computer simulations and 3D cell cultures such as organoids, are already used wherever possible. However, there are still some cases where this is not an option.
The research areas at the University of Bonn that conduct animal testing range from basic research to the development of treatments and therapies. In biomedical research, for example, animal testing helps to tell us more about certain biochemical processes and thus develop new therapeutic approaches and methods. Mice and rats are primarily used for this purpose. The main priority in the research done on livestock is the welfare of the cows, chickens and pigs involved, with researchers studying how they can be kept under the best possible conditions.
You can watch a video on the topic here: “Warum machen Wissenschaftler Tierversuche?” (“Why do researchers experiment on animals?”)
Animal testing in Germany is subject to a strict licensing procedure set out in the TierSchG and the Animal Protection Experiment Ordinance (TierSchVersV). Before any animal testing can be carried out, a license is required from the competent authority, which in the University of Bonn’s case is the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) State Agency for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection (LANUV). The authority is advised by an independent committee during the licensing process (§ 15 TierSchG).
The committee is made up of medical and veterinary professionals, members of animal welfare organizations and researchers. In addition, only people with the necessary knowledge and skills may perform animal testing.
You can find more information in the video entitled “Das Genehmigungsverfahren bei Tierversuchen” (“The licensing procedure for animal testing”) produced by the initiative Tierversuche verstehen (“Understanding animal testing”).
Most of the laboratory animals at the University of Bonn are mice or rats. However, frogs, reptiles, guinea pigs, fish, chickens, pigs, cows and New World camelids are also used.
Besides the Animal Welfare Unit, several animal welfare officers also supervise animal testing at the University of Bonn. They advise on planning and drafting applications for animal testing, supervise ongoing experiments and the animals’ accommodation and ensure compliance with animal welfare rules, regulations and legislation. In particular, the welfare officers provide advice “on animal well-being and on opportunities to improve animal well-being while they are being acquired, accommodated and looked after and on their medical treatment” (§ 5 TierSchVersV).
There are also extremely strict requirements governing how animals are kept (§ 2 TierSchG and § 1 TierSchVersV). The animals are housed in appropriate accommodation and are looked after and cared for by competent staff. Ensuring the protection and welfare of the animals is the top priority.
3R: Replace, Reduce, Refine
The guiding principle in animal testing research is known as “3R”: Replace, Reduce, Refine. The main aim is thus to replace animal testing with another method. Where this is not possible, the testing must be reduced to a minimum. Finally, everyone involved is called on to minimize the suffering endured by laboratory animals and improve (“refine”) their well-being by housing and looking after them under the best possible conditions.
To lend particular support to this aim of striking a balance between medical advances and the highest possible standards of animal welfare, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Bonn has joined forces with the seven other medical faculties at NRW universities to set up the 3R Competence Network NRW. Its main office is based at the dean’s office in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Bonn and is supported by a coordination office at RWTH Aachen University.
Das 3R-Prinzip: Replace Reduce Refine
Alternatives to animal testing
As well as endeavoring to reduce animal testing in line with the 3R principle, the University of Bonn is also keen to research and develop alternatives, such as creating organoids (“mini-organs”) that are already enabling some experiments on animals to be replaced.
Dendritic cells play an important role in setting the course of our immune system. However, what determines their heterogeneity and functional specialization is still not sufficiently understood. An international collaboration consisting of researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn and the Technical University of Denmark, among others, has investigated the role of the transcription factor Bcl6 in dendritic cells in a mouse model and discovered that a subgroup is highly dependent on this protein. The findings contribute to a better understanding of immunological processes during infections, vaccinations, allergies and autoimmunity. The results have now been published in the renowned scientific journal "Nature Communications".
Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark, the Novo Nordisk Center for Adipocyte Signaling (SDU), the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) have found a protein that is responsible for turning off brown fat activity. This new discovery could lead to a promising strategy for safely activating brown fat and tackling obesity and related health problems. The results of the study have now been published in the journal „Nature Metabolism“.
Our lungs are bombarded by all manner of different particles every single day. Whilst some are perfectly safe for us, others—known as pathogens—have the potential to make us ill. The immune system trains its response whenever it encounters such a pathogen. Yet researchers at the University of Bonn have now shown that even harmless particles help to improve the immune response and have published their results in the journal “Nature Immunology.”
Chemokines are signalling proteins that orchestrate the interaction of immune cells against pathogens and tumours. To understand this complex network, various techniques have been developed to identify chemokine-producing cells. However, it has not yet been possible to determine which cells react to these chemokines. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn have developed a new class of genetically modified mice that enables the simultaneous identification of chemokine producers and sensors. Using the chemokine Ccl3 as a “proof of principle”, they discovered that its function in the immune defence against viruses is different than had been previously assumed. Their results have now been published in the "Journal of Experimental Medicine".
Contact
Animal Welfare Unit
The Animal Welfare Unit supervises animal testing at the University of Bonn.
Contact
tierschutz@verwaltung.uni-bonn.de
University Communications
University Communications at the University of Bonn helps the media with their inquiries.
Contact
kommunikation@uni-bonn.de