PETA India Webinar Spotlights Non-Animal Science

Ethical science continues to grow! PETA India hosted a free webinar aimed at educating scientists on how to grow cells for research using non-animal ingredients.

Foetal bovine serum (FBS) is obtained, as a byproduct, when pregnant cows are slaughtered for meat consumption. A large-gauge needle is used to draw the blood out of the beating hearts of the unborn calves. Approximately 600,000 litres of FBS – extracted from up to 18 lakh bovine foetuses – are produced worldwide each year. For decades, this byproduct has been used in laboratories to help grow cells in petri dishes.

This outdated method of growing cells presents several scientific issues. For example, each batch of FBS differs from the next, and this can lead to unexpected or undesirable outcomes.

Webinar presenters from industry developing and using animal-free solutions made one thing clear: ditching animal-derived cell culture media is smart science. The switch could boost reproducibility, reliability, and efficiency across everything from in vitro testing to cultivated meat and vaccine production.

This webinar was the latest in a global effort from PETA scientists to eradicate FBS from the scientific world. The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) recently released a draft document for stakeholder consultation that supports the use of non-animal replacements for FBS and other animal-derived products that are commonly used to manufacture human vaccines. When finalised, this policy will add IPC to the growing list of global regulatory and scientific bodies that support the use of chemically defined, animal-free media in cell culture, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the European Union Reference Laboratory for Alternatives to Animal Testing.

PETA India scientists will continue to encourage researchers to transition away from using FBS, and instead to rely on non-animal options.

Advocate for state-of-the-art science!

From organising free workshops, webinars, and training opportunities for scientists to improving and implementing non-animal test methods at the regulatory level, PETA India scientists do whatever it takes to promote science that benefits all living beings. But there’s still work to do. Join PETA India in advocating for modern science that benefits all living beings.