UK United Kingdom  Animal-based research is still relevant
and necessary  Drug development is a slow process involving
years, even decades, of research and animal models have always
been integral to this work. But progress in translating animal
work into human benefits has been…  Animals are not just an
incidental first choice of research method. usda/Wikimedia
Commons   A recent article published on this site considered
this alongside technological advances and asked whether research
on animals is now irrelevant. And, if so, why we persist in
using them. I will be providing a counter argument to the
article, which concludes we should stop using animals in
research.  Not a casual choice  First, let’s put to bed the idea
that research scientists treat animals as merely a means to an
end, or that they are an incidental first choice of research
method.  All scientists who work with animals spend a
significant proportion of their time applying for approval from
their institutional animal ethics committee for thei