6R Course
Organisator: Dr. Sibylle Ott
Kontakt: Sibylle.Ott@uni-ulm.de
Despite the undeniable successes of animal research, we have to admit that many animal experiments do not lead to sustainable results. Some are never published, others are unusable because they cannot be reproduced, or they cannot be transferred to human patients in clinical studies.
Since 2012, following the publication of large-scale studies, the scientific community has been aware of the problem of poor reproducibility of preclinical experiments (1,2). There have certainly been reactions, such as stricter requirements for submitted publications by journals, platforms for disclosure of study design and raw data, and initiatives for more transparency.
Nevertheless: much remains to be done. Individual areas, such as animal husbandry, have hardly been studied with regard to their influence on experiments, although their influence is likely to be considerable (3). The day-to-day procedures of husbandry and experimentation have also been little studied and not systematically changed.
It is a common task of scientists, animal facility managers and authorities to make animal experiments more robust, valid and transferable! The 6R course aims to provide tools to improve the design, conduct, publication and quality of animal experiments. In a short basic module an introduction the topic is given. In two more in-depth modules we then address specific problem areas and ways to improve animal experimentation.
The basic module introduces the issue of reproducibility crisis, addresses sources of error in statistics and animal husbandry, presents examples of reproducibility and translational gaps using examples from cancer research, and introduces preregistration. It also shows where we stand on the issue of replacement and why a higher reproducibility rate is ethically necessary.
Module 1 mainly covers areas within the "classical" 3 Rs: replacement, reduction and refinement. Here, the background to laboratory animals, such as transport, husbandry, rearing, spontaneous behaviour, low stress handling and nutrition are investigated. Other topics include stress assessment and postoperative care. In addition, reproducibility problems in research on zebrafish are addressed.
Module 2 focuses on the "new" 3 Rs: robustness, registration and reporting (4). This module includes a lecture block on meta-analyses and systematic reviews. Further topics include systematic heterogeneity, implementation of long-term studies and accreditation procedures. In addition, necessary changes in research culture and publication practices will be addressed
The basic module is a prerequisite for the advanced modules, which can be booked in any order.
In addition, there will be live lessons with the opportunity for questions and discussions.
Participation is confirmed by a certificate.
Further Information
1. Prinz F, Schlange T, Khusru A: Believe it or not: how much can we rely on published data on potential drug targets? Nature reviews, drug discovery, correspondence, 2011
2. Begley CG, Ellis LM (2012) Drug development: raise standards for preclinical cancer research. Nature 2012; 483: 531–533. doi: 10.1038/483531a PMID: 22460880
3. Reardon S: A mouse´s house may ruin studies: Environmental factors lie behind many irreproducible rodent experiments; Nature 2016; 530:25
4. Strech D, Dirnagl U: 3Rs missing: animal research without scientific value is unethical. BMJ Open Science 2019;3:e000035. doi:10.1136/bmjos-2018-000048.