Refining Research to Improve the Lives of Laboratory Mice

Abstract

Some scientific research includes experiments performed using animals. Many of the animals used in research are sentient, which means they have emotions or feelings that are probably similar to the positive and negative emotions that humans experience. Some experiments can cause animals to experience negative emotions like pain or fear. While animals can sometimes be replaced with other methods or used sparingly, in other situations there is no easy way to perform experiments without using animals. In these cases, scientists can protect animals by using refinement, which describes all efforts to improve the housing conditions, care, and scientific procedures that the animals experience. Refinement aims to avoid or lessen negative experiences or pain and to improve the animals’ wellbeing. For example, scientists work hard to develop methods to give drugs to mice without using force, or to pick mice up more gently so the animals do not feel stress.