Strict regulations govern the use of laboratory animals in research (see, for example, K. Davies Nature 521, 7; 2015), but scientists are under increasing pressure to justify their experiments and address public concerns (Nature 520, 271–272; 2015). Initiatives such as SEARCHBreast avoid the need to set up further in vivo models by using surplus archival tissue from previous animal studies.

SEARCHBreast (for 'Sharing Experimental Animal Resources: Coordinating Holdings in Breast Cancer') is a searchable platform of tissues, resources and information derived from animal models of breast cancer (www.searchbreast.org). These materials can be deployed for characterizing tumour biomarkers and genetically engineered animal models, for example, or for investigating treatment effects on archived human-to-mouse xenografts.

The 'SEARCH' blueprint translates to other diseases: for example, ShARM (Shared Ageing Research Models; www.sharmuk.org) aims to accelerate research on ageing. Such resources support official 'replacement, refinement and reduction' policies (see www.nc3rs.org.uk/the-3rs) and save time and money.