Every few years we take a tiny step forward in the evolution of the humane human. This article is simply giving information that you can pass on to teachers, pharmaceutical companies and students.

The Bharathidasan University in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu has created India's first course and Chair for alternatives in animal experimentation in Asia. This has come about because of the efforts of a single person - Dr Shiranee Periera

For many years , Dr Shiranee Pereira has devoted herself to devising scientific systems that will obviate the need for experimenting on animals. She was the Secretary of the government Committee for the Purpose of Supervision and Control of Experiments on Animals, and , during her tenure , she prevented thousands of animals from being uselessly cut up, stopped hundreds of experiments that were being done for the sake of a salary, and cleaned up many badly run laboratories. Medical experimentation and research in India is among the worst in the world. It is done mostly to earn a salary . In actual fact after millions of animals are killed yearly, not a single patent has come out of India. The world's premier medical magazine The Lancet has commented that only 2% of "research" done in India using animals , is even printed.

After the Congress Party won in 2004, they stopped the CPCSEA from working effectively as the scientists were angry at being exposed for fraudulent practices. Today the laboratories are again in a mess and many pharmaceutical companies are doing what was banned for many years - taking contracts from foreign researchers to use our Indian animals for their research. A monkey in America will cost a researcher thousands of dollars . So he simply gives a little money to an Indian company to do the research for him. They pay a sweeper to get a monkey from the street and then they cut her up and throw away the dead body. India gets no credit for any of this research but the Indian private company makes money.

There is a worldwide awareness to reduce, refine or replace the use of animals(the 3 Rs) in life and biomedical science education, research and testing and for a humane approach to handling animals where use is necessary. Also , the focus of molecular and cellular biology, toxicology and pharmacology has shifted from whole animals to the cells of individual animals and humans. Since the mid-1980s new methodologies are being adapted for toxicity/drug testing in the evaluation of product safety and health risk.

An important reason for this change is economic. A large volume of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, chemicals and household products are introduced into the market every year and they must be tested for their toxicity/therapeutic value. There is a backlog of chemicals already in use that have not been adequately tested. Using traditional whole animal testing methods on all these chemicals is costly in terms of money and time.

There is also increasing public concern about the validity of animal research for product/safety testing - most drugs tested in animals do not have the same reaction in humans. Public interest health groups want government agencies to apply tighter regulations on chemicals. Therefore more efficient and rapid methods to assess toxicity are needed.

Animal welfare and environmental groups have campaigned against manufacturers of cosmetics, household and personal care products and pharmaceuticals. In Europe this has resulted in the Cosmetics Directive which says that cosmetic products or cosmetic ingredients that have been tested in animals cannot be marketed . The testing ban on finished cosmetic products applies since 11 September 2004; the testing ban on ingredients or combination of ingredients since 11 March 2009.

Therefore In vitro studies , conducted in animal or human cells or tissues outside of the body cultured in under controlled conditions are what is needed.

Shiranee who also heads People for Animals, Chennai, and ICARE, India, initiated the idea of a National Centre in India to propagate the message ,to educate students/teachers and regulatory authorities to enact laws to replace/minimize animal use in education, research and testing. Bharathidasan University volunteered. Doerenkamp - Zbinden Foundation (DZF)of Switzerland, agreed to pay for the Centre. They have paid for the building, the Chair and will pay for it annually.

The course will start in 2010. It is named the Mahatma Gandhi - Doerenkamp Centre for Alternatives to Use of Animals in Life Science Education & Gandhi - Gruber - Doerenkamp Chair for Alternatives in Life Science Education and In vitro Toxicology. It is the most forward thinking course in medical sciences and will make sure that India does good,original and profound research. It is headed by Prof. Akbarsha

The Centre was inaugurated on the 2nd October 2009 with a seminar on "Ahimsa and Animal Alternatives: The Implications and Benefits of Teaching Humane Science". Dr. Franz Gruber, Editor, ALTEX, addressed on the basic concepts in alternatives. Dr. David Dewhurst spoke on in vitro computer-aided alternatives. Dr. S. Parthasarathy, from Bharathidasan University Department of Bio-Informatics introduced the scope of in-silico alternatives. Dr. M.C. Sathyanarayana, from AVC College, Mayiladuthurai, spoke on animal alternative resources..

Mahatma Gandhi said "I abhor vivisection with my whole soul. All the scientific discoveries stained with innocent blood I count as of no consequence." This Centre will promote the concept of excellent "humane science", by introducing alternatives to the use of animals in research and education. It will function as a National Authority on alternatives to the use of animals in experimentation and help implement, good laboratory practices and state-of-the- art in-vitro methods in research and education. It will bring together stakeholders in the 3Rs - academia, scientific community, industry, government and animal behaviour / welfare personnel from national / international levels to raise the awareness / facilitate the exchange of information on alternatives by way of seminars, workshops etc. It will formulate certificate courses. It will fund the development and research of educational tools and in vitro alternative methods for Life Science teaching and research, encourage the use of e-tools and help establish virtual learning centres for teaching and develop a program for all colleges/ national research institutes; It will collaborate with University Centres such as Oxford University Centre of Animal Ethics, UK, CAAT, Johns Hopkins University, USA, etc; provide expertise and guidance on the 3 R's and laboratory animal welfare to the teaching/scientific community by developing a range of resources, including guidelines and training material, liaise with national educational councils, state education departments and regulatory bodies for curricular development to promote the use and knowledge of alternatives. establish a state of the art tissue and cell culture laboratory and library of alternatives; The Centre will organize training workshops to Institutional Ethics Committee members.

The centre has a computer lab with networking facility, a cell-culture lab with facility for training as well as testing, an in silico facility and a library of alternatives which will be lent out. Collaboration with advanced laboratories specializing in invitro methodologies in India and abroad is envisaged so that students go to these labs for training and/or carry out the dissertation.

a) Certificate program in Ahimsa and Animal Alternatives :A one semester program with 5 courses offered in the electronic and distance mode. The target group is current and prospective University and College teachers in biology, veterinary science, biomedical science, etc

b) Post-Graduate Diploma program: In Vitro Toxicology & Pharmacology

To apply to the course get in touch with

Prof. M. A. AKBARSHAHead, Dept of Animal Science & Co-Ordinator, School of Life Sciences Bharathidasan University Tiruchirappalli- 620 024India.Ph: Off: 0431 2407040 Res: 0431 242-0557 Fax: 0431 2407045 akbarbdu@yahoo.com