In vivo experiments at DESY

As a national research centre within the Helmholtz Association, DESY’s mission is to carry out research into and help find solutions and answers to the major challenges facing society. This explicitly includes health research. Thanks to its brilliant light sources, unique know-how in analytical methods as well as the development and operation of accelerators, DESY is in a position to contribute significantly to expanding our knowledge through medical research; because large-scale research facilities such as PETRA III can provide insights at the molecular level which can generate information crucial to developing new or improved drugs and treatments for diseases for which no adequate cures are currently available. Using novel and advanced analytical methods, for example, it is possible to track the reactions of an entire immune system over different periods of time. For these reasons, imaging experiments involving animals are also carried out at DESY at some of the PETRA III beamlines (experimental stations). Furthermore, accelerated based technologies are an important aspect to test and develop novel radiation therapies used for cancer treatments. In this contect animal experiments are generally possible at DESY.

At DESY – like everywhere else – experiments on animals are carried out in line with an exacting approval process, which is dictated by the authorities and strictly monitored by them. In their application, the scientists must explain why the scientific question can only be answered using live animals and not using alternative methods. The central aspect of the experiments that are carried out is that they should contribute to a significant increase in understanding, ultimately benefiting patients, through the expertise and analytical methods available at DESY. On top of this, handling animals responsibly, respectfully, in compliance with the rules and, above all, ethically, is also a top priority at DESY.

Less is more

DESY takes its responsibility in this context very seriously. However, there is no alternative to the animal experiments currently taking place in medical research and drug development, especially when it comes to investigating a realistic immune response. This can only be studied in a complete organism and not by simulating one or more individual organs, using organs-on-a-chip for example. Imaging methods, such as the X-ray fluorescence method mentioned earlier, can contribute to reducing the number of laboratory animals while at the same time furnishing statistically reliable insights.

By continuing to develop existing technologies further, especially in medical imaging, DESY aims to actively contribute to further improving the principle of the so-called 3Rs in research using animals.

• Replace: The knowledge gained from animal experiments at PETRA III contributes towards
  replacing living animals in medical experiments. This is achieved particularly through improved
  data based on refining in silico methods.
• Reduce: Imaging procedures carried out at the synchrotron radiation source can reduce the
  number of animals needed. How? A single animal can be studied under anaesthesia for a
  longer period of time over several points in time, to track physiological processes. This is also
  possible because the X-ray doses are far below critical levels. As a result, findings can be
  obtained from a single animal over a longer period of time. The more often examinations
  are conducted to clarify a question, the more animals it is possible to do without.
• Refine: The non-invasive medical imaging methods available at PETRA III reduce the need
  for direct intervention in the organisms of the laboratory animals and hence also the potential
  pain inflicted on the animals.

Further information on the issue of animal experimentation in research and the state of scientific knowledge is available on the website Tierversuche verstehen (Understanding Animal Experiments): https://www.tierversuche-verstehen.de/, an informational site produced by the Alliance of Scientific Organisations.

The distribution of immune cells in a mouse after different periods of time can be made visible with the help of X-ray fluorescence

Image: F. Grüner, University of Hamburg