Replacing Animal Testing: How and When?

Abstract

An important discussion in today’s society is whether we should make animals suffer for the sake of science and product development. In this article, I present four examples of animal tests that were introduced in the past to protect patients and consumers, and I discuss attempts to replace those animal tests with other methods. When we started using small animals such as mice and rats for testing more than 100 years ago, there were not many alternatives. Today, we have more knowledge and a greater number of options. Scientists can now create tiny functioning organs in the laboratory, and even combine multiple mini-organs, to help us understand how the human body works when it is healthy or sick. This increased understanding will allow scientists to move beyond the use of animals in many cases, which will improve both the accuracy of the scientific tests and the welfare of animals.