Opinion: There is no replacement (yet) for animal models in medical research
The NIH is “reducing animal use in research.” But there is no replacement for animal models.
Imagine a world without lifesaving medicines, preventive care, or therapies — no insulin for diabetes, no vaccines for polio, and fewer (if any) options for treating cancer. What do these amazing medical achievements have in common? They all depended heavily on research using animals, the behind-the-scenes heroes of medical breakthroughs.
Animal models play a starring role in medical discoveries because they help scientists understand how living organisms develop and function, and how they respond to diseases and treatments. Diseases like cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s are incredibly complicated. They involve many different parts of the body working together — or sometimes failing to do so. Researchers simply can’t get the full picture from cells in a dish or computer models alone. That’s where animals, such as mice, zebrafish, chickens, and frogs, step in.
