Animal Research and Welfare

Animal experimentation remains indispensable in biological and biomedical research to this day. We owe a great deal to it. Without animal experiments, there would be no COVID-19 vaccine, no antiviral therapy for HIV, and no anesthesia. We wouldn't even be able to take a headache tablet. And yes, animal testing is an ethical dilemma, and no scientist enjoys doing it.

At the DPZ, monkeys are used as laboratory animals for some scientific questions. Each individual experiment is subject to ethical consideration: the significant scientific gain or medical benefit of the experiment must outweigh the suffering of the animals. In addition, the experiment must be indispensable, meaning that there is currently no alternative method that can be used to answer the research question.

At the DPZ, we are constantly developing new alternative and complementary methods to reduce the use of monkeys to a minimum. All scientists at the DPZ are committed to this in an ethical policy agreement. In doing so, the researchers follow the most important ethical principle of scientific work, the 3R principle.

Providing fact-based, expert, and transparent information about animal experiments is very important to us. Our scientists communicate openly with the public and the media on this topic and advise politicians on animal welfare issues.

We want our information to contribute to an objective, public discussion about animal research. If you have any further questions that are not answered here, please feel free to contact the DPZ press office at any time. Simply send your questions to Susanne Diederich or Sylvia Ranneberg.

If you have any questions about animal welfare, please contact tierschutz(at)dpz.eu.