The Rise and Fall of Animal Experimentation : Empathy, Science, and the Future of Research

Every year, hundreds of millions of animals are used in the service of biomedical research, despite the risk of extreme cruelty to these animal subjects. The expansion of the pharmaceutical industry and university research funding rapidly normalized its practice. What exactly are these experiments supposed to achieve from the scientific point of view and how effective are they? Working scientists answer these questions by saying that their research is absolutely necessary if we are to develop new therapies for human diseases. But is this really the case? Written by a scientist with over 40 years of laboratory experience, The Rise and Fall of Animal Experimentation critically examines this assumption and asks whether it is true that animal-based research achieves its aims and, if so, how often this occurs and if there are alternatives to performing animal-based science. The book takes readers through the history of animal experimentation: its early beginnings in antiquity, how it advanced in the seventeenth century during the Scientific Revolution until the present day, and explores the diverse scientific, theological, and philosophical influences that formed the basis for these ideas about animal-based science. Referencing developments in various fields including stem cell biology, genetic sequencing, and live imaging, the book describes the scientific advancements that bring the value of animal experimentation into question and encourages biomedical research to consider more anthropocentric paradigms that reflect the entire spectrum of human diversity. "Every year hundreds of millions of animals are used in the service of biomedical research, which costs taxpayers and the government billions of dollars. When these experiments are viewed objectively, there can be little doubt that the vast majority of them are extremely cruel to their animal subjects. What exactly are these experiments supposed to achieve from the scientific point of view and, in reality, how effective are they? Working scientists answer these questions by saying that their research is absolutely necessary if we are going to develop new therapies for human diseases. But is this really the case? Many people, including members of the general public and scholars in the humanities, have taken issue with the answers provided by science. Importantly, recent advances that employ new methodologies such as stem cell technology, genetic sequencing, and live human imaging have now rendered animal experimentation obsolete. This book describes exactly how animal research began in antiquity as well as its subsequent historical and cultural development, what it is supposed to achieve, why it fails and what we can expect in the future if we want to invent new therapies for human diseases. The book describes the rapidly developing field of stem cell research and the development of organoid systems that allow experiments to be performed on human tissues rather than animals and how future scientists should be trained in the ethical appreciation of animal lives"-- Provided by publisher