Congress report
The First Indian Congress On Alternatives to the Use of Animals in Research, Testing and Education was held at the Sri Ramachandra Medical University, Chennai, from 29-31 January 2007. The congress was co-organized by I-CARE, Sri Ramachandra University and IIBAT, Chennai, India.
The congress, the first of its kind not only in India but also in Asia, was a resounding success with more than 350 delegates, 13 resource personnel from Europe and USA and 8 from India, participating in the lecture and workshop sessions. Delegates included scientists, professors, lecturers, representatives from the pharma industry, research scholars and students from all over India, Srilanka and Pakistan.
The congress was unique in that, delegates had an opportunity to have a hands on experience in the state of the art "in vitro"/cell and tissue culture methods used in biomedical research, regulatory testing and the use of models, manikins etc. used in the teaching of pharmacology, veterinary and medical sciences. There were 15 lecture sessions and 8 workshop sessions, addressing the state of the art techniques in alternatives used basic biomedical research, regulatory testing and education.
Addressing a pre congress press conference at Chennai, Dr Thomas Hartung, Head JRC / ECVAM of the European Commission said "The field of alternatives is currently driven by the expectations from both cosmetics and chemical policies. The 7th amendment to the cosmetics directive published in 2003 foresees to phase out animal experiments completely by 2013".
The congress was formally inaugurated by Dr S Ramasami, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Govt. Of India. Dr Ramasami, in his thought provoking key note address said "the primary objective of those in the field of medical testing, research and education should be not to reduce the use of animals but to eliminate the practice."
"The traditional Indian systems of medicine never used animals for their testing and research. So the modern medicine should also find ways to conduct medical testing and research without using animals. Medical students and scientists should try not to use any living organisms in medical testing, research and education," Ramasamy said.
Announcing the Rs One Lakh "The Kindness Award for Humanity and Science", he thanked Phillip Wollen, OAM, Founder, The Winsome Constance Kindness Trust, Australia, for instituting the award and he hoped such awards would help encourage and recognize scientists working to replace the use of animals in experimentation.
The soul stirring message from Philip Wollen, was then read out to the 400 strong audience immediately after.
Dr Shiranee Pereira, Head, I-CARE, spoke about the need and rationale of the congress, stressing on the philosophy and the Indian belief and traditions of Ahimsa, Karma and Dharma and the ethical and scientific need to change the mode of research and teaching today.
Dr. Vasantha Muthuswamy, Senior Deputy Director General, ICMR mentioned in her lecture on the use of alternatives in Basic Biomedical Research that "for a country of India's magnitude it would take some more time to phase out the use of animals in medical research. However, the ICMR was also planning to start an institute for the development of alternative technologies to get rid of use of animals in biomedical research, she added.
Special contributions included those of Prof. Dr Alan Goldberg, Director, Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing of the Johns Hopkins University, USA, who introduced the theme of the congress, with a brilliant presentation on the "Science of Alternatives".
Prof. Dr.Thomas Hartung, Head, JRC& ECVAM of the European Commission, spoke how the science of alternatives has revolutionized research and testing in Europe with facts and figures.
Prof. Dr Horst Speilmann, Head, ZEBET, and co-chair of the 6th World Congress on Alternatives, which is to be held in Tokyo in August 2007, elaborated on the contributions made by the ZEBET in the discovery and development of replacement alternatives in regulatory testing.
Dr Coenraad Hendriksen, Head, Netherlands Vaccine Institute, enlightened the audience on the reduced use of animals in vaccine production and quality control an exclusive and very specialized field. The ensuing workshop he conducted at the King Insitute, on the second day of the congress had a overwhelming response with scientists from vaccine producing laboratories from far and wide in India participating in the same.
Dr Balakrishnamurthy, Director, IIBAT and Member, CPCSEA, Govt. of India spoke about the reality and use of in vitro methods in toxicity testing. Prof Dr. Akbar Sha, Head, School Of Life Sciences, Bharathidasan University,India, spoke about the strong awakening and the movement in India working for a nation wide ban on dissection in teaching life sciences.
Scientific lectures included oral presentations which were followed by workshop sessions.
Dr Manfred Liebsch, ZEBET, Germany, demonstrated in vitro methods for Eye and Skin Irritation developed at ZEBET. Dr Joseph Bressler, Kennedy Kreiger Centre, USA, spoke about and held an interactive workshop on "The Biology & Cell Culture Models On Blood Brain Barrier.
Dr Pamela Lein, Oregon Health & Sciences University, USA, demonstrated neuro- toxicity testing with in vitro alternatives.
In the field of education, Prof Dr Maria Webb, New University of Lisbon, spoke about "Emotional literacy and process of learning".
Prof Dr.V Balakrishnan, Madras Veterinary College presented his discovery, the "TANUVAS-RUSITEC" the alternative to fistulation in nutrition studies in ruminants.
Corporate presentations and workshops included "Organs- on- a- Chip" by Dr Albert Li, CEO, InVitro AdMet Labs, USA, "Alternative methods for corrosion and ocular irritation" by Dr Anne de Brugerolle, COO, Skin Ethic, France, the "Use of Skin Models for skin Irritation" by Dr Jose Cotovio, L'OREAL, France and "The Use Simulators in Surgical Education" by Dr U. S. Gadgil, Johnson & Johnson Medical India.
The Workshop on Alternatives in Life Science Education, showcased more than a thirty alternatives used in the teaching of pharmacology, zoology, medicine and veterinary science. The resource personnel at the this workshop, which was conducted on all three days of the congress, included Prof Dr. R. Raveendran, JIPMER, Prof. Dr. Chitra Lekha, Stella Maris College, Dr. S. Ayappan, Madras Veterinary College, Dr Ramani Nagarajan, Madras Veterinary College and Dr Priya Darshini Govind.
The congress had the impact it sought to have and has carried the message that alternatives are a practical reality to scientists and students far and wide.Dr W. Sam, Senior Lecturer, PIPMS, Medical College, Trivandrum, amongst many, wrote to say "It was a wonderful experience joining the conference at Chennai.It was an eye opener in ways more than one.It was well organized and I would like to compliment ICARE on organizing this".
Dr Raj Mohanan wrote to say "I am very happy to inform you all that the First Congress on Alternatives conducted at Chennai was an outstanding experience for me. It was really interesting and I appreciate the pain and hard work put in to by you all for the successful conduct of the event."
