Researchers warn politicians not to clamp down on use of animals

Excessive rules on use of animals may harm both them and research, group argues

More than 70 researchers have called on policymakers to “listen more carefully” to the research community when establishing rules around the use of animals in research, warning that “a new trend toward further regulation” could harm research and animals.

“We are concerned that extremely strict regulation can sometimes harm rather than benefit the animals,” the group of mainly neuroscience researchers led by Judith Homberg of the Netherlands-based Radboud University Medical Center said in an article published in the journal Neuron on 4 August.