Before any decision to use animals is made (as in category 4 above), independent ethical assessments are conducted by the ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø’s Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body (AWERB) to assess if the research and procedures proposed by a researcher are justified. This ethical review is applied to all research involving animals which is undertaken on the ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø Research Campus, whether by the ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁϱ¬ÁϹÙÍø or by a commercial company. After local ethical review, legal authority to proceed is then sought from the Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) of the UK Home Office which undertakes its own assessment and decides whether to approve the research.
Review by the AWERB committee compares the potential benefits of the proposed experiments with the likely costs in terms of any possible animal suffering. The following points are considered: