Horseshoe crabs play a unique role in medicine, but they’re also ecologically important in their home waters along the Atlantic coast. Can regulators balance the needs of humans and nature?
As well as the important ethical reasons for minimising animal use in research, the reality is sometimes animals just aren’t that good at predicting human responses.
Although there are rules that govern animal research, they don’t answer one important question: when are the gains from research enough to justify the harms it may inflict?
Research using animals must be more transparent regarding how animals are used and treated.
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The public’s lack of knowledge about animal research can cause a moral conflict. Institutions that use animals in research need to be more transparent about their practices.
Stressful housing conditions affect the physiology of lab mice.
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Medical research to benefit people is first conducted in animals. Creating a new biomedical model by inserting human immune cells into pigs may lead to new insights and treatments.
A new machine-learning algorithm does more with less.
These rats are in special cages for urine collection. Every year, millions of animals are used for testing chemicals that are used in industrial products.
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Testing new industrial chemicals is essential for public health and the environment. But animal testing is costly, and too many chemicals are left untested. A new AI tool may solve the problem.
Virtually every medical therapy in use today owes its existence to animal experiments. But we can’t assume what works in animals will in humans. And sometimes, the mismatch can be dangerous.
In Australia animal testing is currently required for some potentially toxic new cosmetic ingredients.
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A bill has been proposed to ban testing cosmetics on animals in Australia. It will only affect a small number of animals, but it’s an important step towards a global ban.
Ethical codes on animal experimentation lay down strict rules about the treatment of lab animals. Animals headed to the slaughter house are not so lucky.