KCL listed amongst the 10 organisations responsible for over half of animal testing in the UK

King’s College London has been named as one of 10 organisations responsible for over half of the UK’s animal testing.

In September 2024, the Understanding Animal Research (UAR) released a list of the top ten organisations that conducted the most animal procedures in Great Britain in 2023. These figures cover medical, veterinary, and scientific research.

The report reveals that in 2023, King’s College London conducted a total of 109,779 animal procedures: including 87,132 mice, 20,777 fish, 1,844 rats, and 26 other animals.

The UAR’s report also documents all of the severity levels of procedures. These levels range from:

Sub-threshold: Causes less pain than inserting a hypodermic needle, with no significant suffering.

Non-recovery: Performed under general anaesthesia, and the animal is euthanised before waking.

Mild: Causes brief, minor discomfort, similar to an injection or blood draw.

Moderate: Creates noticeable but not life-threatening disruption, such as surgery with post-op pain relief.

Severe: Causes significant, long-term suffering or health decline, often including cases where animals are found dead.

Moreover, 82 per cent of King’s animal procedures in 2023 ranged between sub-threshold to mild, and 1,906 of the 109,799 procedures were categorised as severe.

All animal research is reviewed by the College’s Committee for Ethics and Welfare, which ensures that all alternatives to animal use, such as computer models or tissue cultures, have been considered and deemed insufficient. This research further advances biomedical science as the correct species and minimum number of animals are used.

Overall efforts are made to minimise or avoid harm to the animals through improved care, pain relief, or anaesthetics.

Only after these criteria are met can the project be submitted to the Home Office, where the Secretary of State decides on the license.

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These procedures contribute to various vital projects, including the development of vaccines for HIV, treatments for dementia, cancer immunotherapy, and mechanisms and targets for chronic pain. The UAR research also details that researchers at King’s College London reversed hearing loss in mice using a genetic approach in 2023.

Hearing loss, affecting over half of adults in their 70s, is linked to cognitive decline, depression, and dementia. Current treatments, like hearing aids and cochlear implants, do not restore normal hearing or stop disease progression.

In the study, deaf mice with a defective Spns2 gene had their hearing restored in low and middle frequencies after receiving an enzyme that activated the gene. This intervention was most effective when applied at a young age, suggesting potential for reversing gene-related hearing loss in humans.

The King’s Tab contacted King’s College London and was given a response by Dr Julie Keeble, Director of Biological Services at King’s, who said:

“At King’s, we continue to support world-class research involving animals that prioritises animal welfare,

Every experiment is reviewed at multiple levels to ensure that the best outcomes can be achieved.

We see excellent research impacts from studies involving animals but continually reinforce the replacement, reduction and refinement of the use of animals for scientific purposes.”

Featured image via Pixabay

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