WEHI is committed to ensuring that all animals involved in our life-saving medical research are treated ethically and humanely. We take a best practice approach to animal welfare.
The use of animals for medical research plays a vital role in increasing our understanding of complex biological processes and diseases, and in the development of new treatments and diagnostics, all with the ultimate goal of helping people live healthier, for longer.
Research on animal models has been critical to WEHI discoveries that have helped millions of people around the world, including:
At WEHI, we only use animals in research when they are absolutely essential, and work hard to replace the use of animal models wherever possible. In line with this commitment, we use a range of approaches in our research including cell cultures, computer modelling, and organoid technologies. We are also significantly investing in and expanding our human-based research capabilities.
We use animals in WEHI research when we need to find out what happens in the whole living body, which is far more complex than the sum of its parts. It’s very difficult, and in most cases not yet possible, to develop non-animal methods to replace the use of animals.
The animals used in research at WEHI are mice, rats, rabbits and zebrafish. Some research is also conducted using fruit flies and mosquitos. These animals and insects are used for fundamental research across a range of disease areas including cancer, allergy, asthma, autoimmune diseases, immune deficiencies, neurodevelopmental disorders and infectious diseases, such as malaria, HIV, hepatitis virus B and SARS-CoV-2.
WEHI’s highly skilled animal technicians care for the animals, they are monitored closely and managed according to relevant guidelines and procedures, approved by the Animal Ethics Committee.
