Can alternatives actually replace animal experiments?
Alternative methods are already replacing animal experiments and have already saved countless lives. For example, cell cultures have replaced the use of monkeys in polio vaccine production. Pregnancy tests are now conducted in test-tubes instead of in rabbits. Batches of insulin are now analysed chemically and not by innaccurate tests in mice. Government, regulatory bodies and industry must work together to rethink our scientific endeavour, and to invest in retraining scientists and re-equipping laboratories to use the high-tech in vitro research techniques that will enable us to develop life-saving drugs and safe consumer products for the future – progress with compassion and health with humanity. [back to top] Didn’t all winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology experiment on animals? Yes, most did, but in no case does that mean the discoveries would not have occurred without animals. It only means that the market for lab animals was thriving and employing them was easy.
[back to top] Alternative methods are already replacing animal experiments and have already saved countless lives. For example, cell cultures have replaced the use of monkeys in polio vaccine production. Pregnancy tests are now conducted in test-tubes instead of in rabbits. Batches of insulin are now analysed chemically and not by innaccurate tests in mice.
