There is a dilemma in the debate surrounding animal testing in the Netherlands and the European Union. On the one hand, there is a call from society, politicians, and the sector itself to reduce animal testing and develop alternatives. On the other hand, we also want medical progress and safety for consumers, animals, and the environment, in which animal testing is still indispensable.
- More than 1.2 million endorsements call for an immediate ban on animal testing in the EU;
- This raises doubts among the research community and industry about short-term feasibility;
- Despite technological advances such as organ-on-a-chip and AI, animal testing remains essential;
- Political support is crucial for accelerating the transition to animal-free research.
“Biomedical and toxicological research should get much more attention. It’s where much of the current knowledge about diseases comes from. And where answers are sought to all the questions we still have about Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, for example. Why do some get sick and others don’t?” begins Cyrille Krul, lecturer at the Hogeschool Utrecht (HU) and a specialist in alternatives to animal testing.
We agreed to meet at the HU’s Innovative Testing in Life Sciences & Chemistry electorate laboratory. Here, people are working hard to develop alternatives to animal testing, like the photo on the left illustrates. It’s an enlarged image of a 2D cultured small intestine organoid. Different types of intestinal cells can be made visible in the cultured organoid, and researchers can track how these cells respond to substances and drugs.
Also joining, is Manon Beekhuijzen, head of Toxicology Operations at Charles River Laboratories, the Netherlands’ most prominent safety research institute. The two women have a shared mission: to do the best possible research with as few laboratory animals as possible. Krul is from a research and education perspective, and Beekhuijzen is from the industry that conducts safety research on behalf of consumers, animals, and the environment.
The mission is a complex one. Despite technological advances such as organ-on-a-chip and AI, animal testing is still indispensable in specific research areas and in developing new drugs. Moreover, there is sometimes a need for more confidence among regulatory agencies in the alternative methods found, as alternative methods must be able to vouch for efficacy and safety. This complicates the transition to non-animal innovation.
Cyrille Krul
Krul studied health sciences in Maastricht but soon discovered she did not want to make people better but to understand why they get sick. She earned her doctorate in Toxicology at Utrecht University.
Krul found her passion in genetic toxicology, which involves a lot of work with (alternatives to) animal testing, and did research at TNO for years.
In 2017, she made the final transition to Hogeschool Utrecht. She is the lector of Innovative Testing in Life Sciences and Chemistry and head of the HU Knowledge Center for Healthy and Sustainable Living.
“Ultimately, it’s about the people who have to do it. Here, I can ensure we train professionals who understand how things can be done differently.”
She was also vice chair of the ZonMw program committee MKMD (“More knowledge with fewer animals”).
Manon Beekhuijzen
Beekhuijzen studied medical biology in Utrecht and toxicology at the University of Surrey (England).
“I always wanted to be a researcher. When I was eight, I asked for a microscope for St. Nicholas.”
24 years ago, she started as a project leader in the DART department at Charles River Laboratories. DART stands for Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology.
In 2018, Beekhuijzen earned her PhD in introducing the 3Rs (reduction, refinement, and replacement) in DART testing. Nine years ago, she became manager of the project leaders. Since the beginning of this year, she has managed all laboratories there, and her group consists of 185 people.
In addition, she was president of the European Teratology Society (ETS) and is on the board of EUROTOX (European Toxicology Association).
The state of animal testing in the Netherlands
In 2021, 477,970 animal experiments were carried out in the Netherlands, up from 2020 (448,798). Over the past decade, the number of animal experiments remained roughly the same. It indicates that animal testing still plays a significant role in scientific research despite the ambition to use fewer animals. According to Krul, this mainly reflects the complexity. “We’ve had quick wins, such as banning animal testing for cosmetics. But validating new alternatives is an intensive, complex process requiring much research.”
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