Facts & Figures
According to Article 54 (2) of the European Directive 2010/63, each Member State has to collect and make publicly available on an annual basis the statistical information on the use of animals in scientific procedures. The Ministry of Agriculture keeps records of how many animals are used in these procedures in Luxembourg every year. These numbers are sent to the European Commission who includes them in the European statistical reports which are published on their website.
The LCSB is committed to being transparent about our use of animals in scientific research. As part of this commitment, we are auditing and publishing the number of animals used in LCSB’s research on this page.
The numbers of animals involved in completed procedures at the animal facilities on Campus Belval are:
- 1003 mice
- 17 383 zebrafish
- 0 rats
- 0 primates
- 0 cats
- 0 dogs
- 1350 mice
- 19 799 zebrafish
- 0 rats
- 0 primates
- 0 cats
- 0 dogs
- 2049 mice
- 6728 zebrafish
- 0 rats
- 0 primates
- 0 cats
- 0 dogs
- 5596 mice
- 437 zebrafish
- 0 rats
- 0 primates
- 0 cats
- 0 dogs
- 1282 mice
- 672 zebrafish
- 0 rats
- 0 primates
- 0 cats
- 0 dogs
- 1824 mice
- 2222 zebrafish
- 0 rats
- 0 primates
- 0 cats
- 0 dogs
- 1854 mice
- 1487 zebrafish
- 0 rats
- 0 primates
- 0 cats
- 0 dogs
- 1315 mice
- 900 zebrafish
- 0 rats
- 0 primates
- 0 cats
- 0 dogs
FAQ
Research using animals is essential for understanding the biology that underpins health and disease in both humans and other animals. Without such research, we would have few of the modern medicines, antibiotics, vaccines and surgical techniques that we take for granted in both human and veterinary medicine. Animals are used to investigate fundamental biology, to model disease and to test potential new treatments before they are tested in humans. Animal research is only undertaken where there is no alternative.
A part of the projects involving animal research are fundamental research projects. This means that they aim at understanding how humans and animals develop and how our nervous systems and brains work, for example. This knowledge is essential as it will increase our understanding of health and disease in general. Other work is aimed at tackling specific diseases, for example helping us understand how Parkinson’s disease affects the brain and how it might be treated.
No. It is not permitted anywhere within the European Union to test cosmetics on animals.
A ‘procedure’ is defined in the European Directive as any use, invasive or non-invasive, of an animal for experimental or other scientific purposes, with known or unknown outcome, or educational purposes, which may cause the animal a level of pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm equivalent to, or higher than, that caused by the introduction of a needle in accordance with good veterinary practice. Procedures can hence be part of animal husbandry within a laboratory, as well as being part of scientific experiments. All experiments involve procedures, but not all procedures are experiments. A procedure can be as mild as an injection, or as severe as an organ transplant. Breeding a genetically modified animal is also classified as a procedure, as genetic changes to the normal appearance or ‘phenotype’ of an animal may cause suffering. In 2016, around 90% of all procedures at the LCSB involved the birth of a genetically modified mouse.