It Takes a Village: Stakeholder Participation is Essential to Transforming Science

Abstract

Efforts toward replacing the use of animals in toxicology testing have begun to make significant headway in the last several years, due to co-operative and pragmatic efforts on the part of many stakeholders, and the public pressure that non-governmental advocacy organisations represent. Science-focused advocacy organisations have a unique role to play in these efforts, as they often have flexibility to adapt quickly to keep a project going and forge connections among different kinds of stakeholders to help encourage buy-in. This year, meaningful progress has been made, especially in regulatory laws and policies, which will lead to the replacement of animals in toxicology testing. In order to keep this momentum, we need to measure progress — but this requires improved transparency and regular reporting of animal use. In addition, we should consider how strategies that have successfully reduced and replaced animal use in toxicology can be applied to basic biomedical research practices.