Reply to comment “Animal welfare and ethics in the collection of fetal blood for the production of fetal bovine serum”

Weber, Tilo

doi:10.14573/altex.2103191

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Ethical issues with animal-derived components, especially FBS, have been discussed for years [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] and still continue to spark debate. 12,13 Techniques that aim to replace procedures on live animals should be animal component-free, in order to avoid collateral animal suffering. As highlighted below, non-animal derived replacements to many of these components are already available, and their use will help circumvent the various drawbacks of using animal-derived substances.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Case Studies Exemplifying the Transition to Animal Component-free Cell Culture

Weber¹,

Wiest²,

Oredsson

2022

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Cell culture techniques are strongly connected with modern scientific laboratories and production facilities. Thus, choosing the most suitable medium for the cells involved is vital, not only directly to optimise cell viability but also indirectly to maximise the reliability of the experiments performed with the cells. Fetal bovine or calf serum (FBS or FCS, respectively) is the most commonly used cell culture medium supplement, providing various nutritional factors and macromolecules essential for cell growth. Yet, the use of FBS encompasses a number of disadvantages. Scientifically, one of the most severe disadvantages is the lot-to-lot variability of animal sera that hampers reproducibility. Therefore, transitioning from the use of these ill-defined, component-variable, inconsistent, xenogenic, ethically questionable and even potentially infectious media supplements, is key to achieving better data reproducibility and thus better science. To demonstrate that the transition to animal component-free cell culture is possible and achievable, we highlight three different scenarios and provide some case studies of each, namely: i) the adaptation of single cell lines to animal component-free culture conditions by the replacement of FBS and trypsin; ii) the adaptation of multicellular models to FBS-free conditions; and (iii) the replacement of FBS with human platelet lysate (hPL) for the generation of primary stem/stromal cell cultures for clinical purposes. By highlighting these examples, we aim to foster and support the global movement towards more consistent science and provide evidence that it is indeed possible to step out of the currently smouldering scientific reproducibility crisis.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Case Studies Exemplifying the Transition to Animal Component-free Cell Culture

Weber¹,

Wiest²,

Oredsson

2022

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“…Given the ethical issues surrounding fetal blood collection described here and by Versteengen et al 1 and Weber et al, 2 the potentially negative impact of using FBS in experiments based on human cell models, and the future limitations to FBS supply, surely now is the time for researchers and funders to adopt more modern, and scientifically- and ethically-relevant approaches to human cell culture-based research, and to move away from the use of FBS.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…The animal welfare and ethics issues surrounding the practice of collecting fetal blood for FBS production have recently been discussed in two commentary articles. 1,2 They describe many of the issues and areas of disagreement between the serum industry and animal welfare advocates. Whilst we welcome the International Serum Industry Association (ISIA)'s reiteration that it "shall establish, promote and assure compliance with uncompromised standards of excellence and ethics in the business practices of the global animal serum and animal derived products supply industry", 1 we fail to understand how its reliance on the application of unenforceable guidelines provided by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) equate with these "uncompromised standards of … ethics".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing Animal Welfare Issues in Fetal Blood Collection for Fetal Bovine Serum Production

McCann¹,

Treasure

2022

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There is ethical debate over whether fetal calves suffer when their dam is slaughtered and fetal blood extracted by cardiac puncture for fetal bovine serum (FBS) production. Yet, the serum industry does not follow best practice, as recommended by the European Food Standards Agency (EFSA), to avoid fetal distress. We discuss the key elements of this debate, and recommend how the serum industry can alter its practices to improve animal welfare.

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“…), coating materials including collagen, laminin, and Matrigel™ are commonly used for cell culturing, while animal‐derived monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies are being employed for research, therapeutics, diagnostics, and for regulatory purposes. However, there are few regulations relating to the collection of fetal tissues [8]. The World Organisation for Animal Health ( Office International des Epizooties , OIE) sets guidelines for animal welfare although this mandate does not fall under the World Trade Organization Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In chapter 7.5 of its Terrestrial Code, OIE provides international standards aiming at ensuring that the fetus is dead prior to the tissue collection [10]. However, this is criticized as insufficient to prevent fetal suffering as there is no scientific consensus on whether the fetus is able to suffer while still in utero [8]. Thus, killing of the fetus with a certified killing method (or at least anesthetization) should be performed immediately after the slaughter of the dam [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A worldwide survey on the use of animal‐derived materials and reagents in scientific experimentation

Cassotta¹,

Bartnicka

Pistollato

et al. 2022

Engineering in Life Sciences

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The use of cell and tissue-based methods in basic, applied and regulatory science has been increasing exponentially. Animal-derived components, including serum, coating materials, growth factors and antibodies are routinely used in cell/tissue cultures and in general laboratory practices. In addition to ethical issues, the use and production of animal-derived materials and reagents raises many scientific concerns, generally associated with presence of undefined components and batch-to-batch variability, which may compromise experimental reproducibility. On the other hand, non-animal materials and reagents, such as human cells, alternatives to animal sera or non-animal recombinant antibodies, are becoming increasingly available, and their use is encouraged by the EU Directive 2010/63 and the Guidance Document on Good In vitro Method Practices (GIVIMP), published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In an effort to map the current state of use of animal-derived reagents across different sectors and to identify the obstacles possibly hampering the implementation of non-animal derived alternatives, a global online survey addressed to scientists working on in vivo, in vitro, in silico methods, in academia as well as pharmaceutical or cosmetic companies, was conducted with the goal to understand: 1) the most commonly used animal-derived materials and reagents, 2) the main issues associated with the production and use of animal-derived materials and reagents, 3) the current level of knowledge on available non-animal alternative materials and reagents, and 4) what educational and information sources could be most useful or impactful to disseminate knowledge on non-animal alternatives. This paper provides an overview of the survey replies and discusses possible proposals to increase awareness, acceptance and use of non-animal ingredients.

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Reply to comment “Animal welfare and ethics in the collection of fetal blood for the production of fetal bovine serum”

Cited by 10 publications

References 9 publications

Case Studies Exemplifying the Transition to Animal Component-free Cell Culture

Case Studies Exemplifying the Transition to Animal Component-free Cell Culture

Addressing Animal Welfare Issues in Fetal Blood Collection for Fetal Bovine Serum Production

A worldwide survey on the use of animal‐derived materials and reagents in scientific experimentation

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