Living tools

What Would Henrik Dam’s Historical Animal Experiments Look Like Today? In the film, DTU’s Vice Dean and Chair of the Danish Council on Ethics, Christine Nellemann, reflects on the historical development of animal testing and discusses the ethical considerations tied to science and technological advancement.

With the development of new technologies, ethical dilemmas also arise: How do we want to, can we, and should we interact with living beings? Today, the Three R's serve as guidelines for how we use animals: Refinement, Reduction, and Replacement. Animals should be exposed to as little stress and pain as possible, the number of test animals should be minimized, and alternative methods should replace animal testing wherever possible.

Fundamentally, humans’ use of animals in science and technology is shaped by utilitarian ethics – but has it always been this way, and what might our future collaborations with animals look like? In the article below, you can explore the history and philosophy of animal testing.