Biomedical Research Must Change — But a Shift Toward Human-specific Research Methods Is Only Part of What Is Needed
Published on July 23, 2021
Animal Free Research UK’s Science Director, Dr Jarrod Bailey, writes in ATLA (Alternatives to Laboratory Animals):
The poor translation of animal research to human biology and clinical benefit is more widely acknowledged than ever before. Much of my work over the past 17 years has made a scientific case for the replacement of animal experimentation with human-specific methods for this reason, also arguing that such a paradigm shift has a human ethical basis, as well as being based on animal welfare.
Over this time, the debate has grown from being largely argued by animal rights groups, to a movement that now involves stakeholders from every area of science, including academia, industry and regulators. Initiatives and roadmaps to expedite replacement specifically ongoing, gathering momentum and finding success.
Furthermore, acknowledgements of poor translation/human relevance of animal-based approaches are stated frequently in papers in mainstream journals in a huge variety of specialist fields, as researchers increasingly look to new approach methodologies (NAMs) to find a better way forward.
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