Resources to help you find information on alternative methods to animal testing

Posted on: 15/08/2025

This news item lists important resources and tools to facilitate your search for information on alternative methods to animal testing. Is a resource missing? Don’t hesitate to let us know via info@RE-Place.be!

Getting started

  • Education and Training Platform for Laboratory Animal Science (ETPLAS) Module 52 on ‘Searching for (existing) non-animal alternatives’. This module contains 3 parts focussing on each necessary step of the research process: developing research questions, designing a search strategy and searching appropriate sources and documenting the searches and their results.
  • EURL ECVAM Search Guide: This document provides support for scientists, national authorities and ethical committees to find high quality information on relevant alternative methods to animal experiments.

Searching the scientific literature

  • SMAFIRA: This search engine allows to find alternative methods to animal testing in the published literature. Scientists must first enter the PubMed identifier of the article describing the animal experiment of their interest in the tool. SMAFIRA will then generate a list of studies in the same field using alternative method(s).
  • 3R Ranker Portal: Search algorithm based on artificial intelligence allowing to screen MEDLINE abstracts for 3R relevant papers.
  • ALTBIB: Search tool that retrieves PubMed citations on alternative methods to the use of live vertebrates in biomedical research and testing. 

Open Access Databases 

  • Joint Research Centre’s Reviews on Advanced Non-Animal Models in biomedical research: EURL ECVAM carried out different reviews of the state-of-the-art of advanced non-animal models used in different domains: respiratory tract diseases, breast cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, immune-oncology, immunogenicity testing for advanced therapy medicinal products, cardiovascular diseases and autoimmune diseases.
  • RE-Place collects the available expertise on alternative methods to animal testing available in Belgium in one central open access database. It links every method to the name of an expert and an organisation where the method has been developed and/or is currently used. Contributing to the RE-Place database facilitates the exchange of information and the transfer of practical skills between researchers from different scientific fields, thereby further stimulating networking activities in Belgium.
  • Cellosaurus aims at describing all cell lines used in biomedical research. It comprises information for more than 100,000 cell lines, both from vertebrates and invertebrates.
  • Fetal Calf Serum-free database compiles commercially available alternative cell culture supplements and FCS-free media as well as alternative medium compositions.
  • Basement Membrane Extract (BME)-free Database compiles commercially available hydrogel- and coating-based product used for in vitro applications.
  • Non-Animal Technologies (NAT) Database contains information on alternative methods developed worldwide by universities and research institutes as well as commercially available or regulatory accepted techniques.
  • Recombinant Antibodies and Mimetics Database categorizes recombinant antibodies and antibody mimetics based on their origin, discovery and production.

Other useful resources: