INoVA hub helps scientists opt for animal-free research
TNO has developed a new platform for researchers conducting biomedical research. With the INoVA hub search engine, users can easily discover which models and methods have been used in international research and what results they have. The platform promotes the use of alternatives to laboratory animals.
'You want to avoid animal testing as much as possible when researching diseases and medicines. Completely without it is not yet possible. That is why we are not against research in which laboratory animals are used. But it should happen as little as possible. If possible, we want researchers to do their research animal-free,' says Jennifer McCormack-Venhorst.
She is a senior scientist at TNO in the field of digital health and biomedical research, which focuses on the causes of diseases and treatment methods.
More Knowledge with Fewer Animals
McCormack and her colleagues reacted enthusiastically when they saw a new call for grants from the More Knowledge with Fewer Animals (MKMD) programme, through which ZonMw promotes the development and use of animal-free methods on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN).
This round involved projects that provide access to scientific literature so that researchers can more easily see which methods are used in biomedical studies. 'We were already doing literature analysis that fitted in seamlessly with this. That's why we had a good basis to start,' says McCormack.
Countless studies
It is impossible for a researcher to go through the countless international biomedical studies to see which models and methods other scientists have applied, ranging from computer models to animal experiments and lab research in which 'in vitro' is investigated how cells react to an added substance in an experiment.
'The idea is that if this information is easy for researchers to find, they will be more likely to opt for an animal-free method,' McCormack explains.
Millions of articles and different terms
She and her team decided to develop a digital search engine based on the summaries of the millions of biomedical articles that PubMed published online from 2015 onwards.
'We chose PubMed because we were already working on it for our literature studies. But of course there are other data sources as well,' says McCormack. It was a huge job. With eight colleagues from different disciplines, they worked on it for more than 1.5 years.
What makes recognizing models in text complicated is that researchers worldwide often use different terminologies in their publications. When it comes to diseases and medicines, the same terms are still often used. If you enter a search term, you can find publications about it. 'But there are no standard terms for the methods and models used. Many abbreviations are also used. They are not only obstacles for researchers to find the right information, but also to develop the platform,' McCormack explains.
Large Language Model
The team started working on 'text mining.' In an automated way, they searched through the millions of summaries to see which different terms and designations are used. To do this, they first trained a 'large language model' so that the search engine recognizes terms itself. The tool is now ready.
INoVA hub stands for Interactive Navigation Of in Vivo models and Alternatives. It is intended for all scientists who are engaged in experimental biomedical studies. They can use the INoVA hub to search all articles on PubMed and filter by diseases and disorders (such as cardiovascular diseases), organs (e.g. heart) and type of model (e.g. animal testing or not) and on which animal species the model is based (e.g. cells from humans, rodents, zebrafish or dogs). INoVA hub
It makes the search strategy much easier. As a scientist, you no longer have to search in PubMed yourself and click around a lot, only to find that you still haven’t found what you are looking for. You can access the information faster and find the models you are using more easily. I hope that scientists can make efficiency gains with this.
Faster transition to animal-free
The INoVA hub also ensures that researchers can more quickly see what alternatives to animal-free research are available, so that they can choose them as the preferred option for their study.
'We have also developed the tool to push and accelerate the transition to animal-free research.' McCormack sees that a number of universities have already started this change. 'The more we facilitate it, the better it is. We want to contribute to that with the INoVA hub.'
Background
With the More Knowledge with Fewer Animals (MKMD) programme, ZonMw is promoting the development and use of animal-free methods on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN). Where this is not (yet) possible, ZonMw is committed to making more effective use of the results of animal experiments. MKMD Programme