Use of Animals in Experiments in Brazil: Cultural, Scientific Practices and New Ethics for the 21st Century

Abstract

From 2018 to 2021, 895 research institutions in Brazil registered at the National Council for the Control of Animal Experiments, Concea, were authorized to use more than 16 million animals in experiments. This historical series is published for the first time and the data were obtained through a Brazilian law known as the Information Access Law (LAI). The purpose of this text is to review the literature and problematize access to data on the use of animals as a fundamental condition to change the paradigm in experimental science in the construction of a world with fewer deaths. The article reconstructs the cultural bases and scientific practices that influenced ethics about animals, especially their use in laboratories. At the same time, it indicates that, since antiquity, there were already thoughts that animals should be treated with dignity and humanity. The text presents the emergence of alternative methods in the late 1950s and questions the role of ethics committees in reducing the use of animals in laboratories.