Pioneering work to reduce the use of animals in scientific research and ultimately remove them from laboratories altogether has received a major boost at The University of Nottingham.

A laboratory devoted to finding effective alternatives to animal testing has been expanded and completely remodelled in a 240,000 overhaul designed to hasten the development of effective non-animal techniques.

Scientists hope that by developing the use of cell and tissue cultures, computer modelling, cell and molecular biology, epidemiology and other methods, they will one day be able to completely remove animals from medical research while still maintaining crucial work to defeat diseases that affect millions of people.

The new FRAME Alternatives Laboratory, within the Universitys Medical School, is to be officially opened by Ed Balls MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, on July 6.

FRAME Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments has had its laboratory at the University for 25 years, making Nottingham unique as the location of the charitys only research facility. The lab is run as a FRAME/University collaboration.

FRAME advocates the use of alternative methods to animal testing, through the use of the Three Rs refinement, reduction and replacement. Refinement of procedures so that the suffering of any animals necessarily used is minimised, reduction of the number of animals used to an unavoidable minimum, and ultimately replacement of animals altogether with validated alternative methods such as cell cultures and computer modelling.

The charity is seeking reliable, scientifically proven ways forward which take account of the welfare of both humans and animals, without jeopardising the ground-breaking work on the major healthcare challenges of the 21st century taking place at research centres around the world.

The official opening of the new FRAME Alternatives Laboratory will be performed
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Contact: Andy Bennett
44-011-582-30113
University of Nottingham
22-Jun-2007