Alternatives to Animal Experiments

Here is a list of available alternatives that are both cruelty free and accurate:

• Autopsies: Post mortem studies remain the best method of studying the effects of a disease on a whole body
• Clinical Research: Many medical treatments have never been studies for efficacy. Large clinical studies are needed to establish whether current practice is actually the best, evidence-based option.
• Computer Modelling: vital human organs and virtual metabolism programmes can now predict drug effects in humans far more accurately than animals can. Computers can be used to design the molecular structure of drugs to target specific receptors. Globally, research teams are working on a 'virtual human', which is designed to predict drug metabolism and metabolite interaction with any given organ- information that animal models will never be able to provide. Check out www.entelos.com or www.physiome.org
• DNA chips: enables the study of pharmocogenetics, which, in turn, enables the practice of personalised medicine. This is the concept that since each person is genetically unique, medicines should be designed for individuals not one medicine for everyone and that disease will also affect each person differently. DNA chips are computer wafers with tiny wells where human genes can be exposed to a new drug, for instance. The computer then reads which genes are turned on or off by the experimental drug. Check out www.simugen.co.uk
• Epidemiology: This studies lifestyle factors in populations to find commonalities that might be significant. Epidemiology linked smoking to cancer and high cholesterol to heart disease, folic acid deficiency in pregnancy to spina bifida and many more associations.
• Human Tissue: Everything that we know about HIV/AIDS has come from studying humans and human tissue; particularly blood. Similarly, everything we know about Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases has been learned by studying patients and their tissues. New drugs can be tested in human tissues, ethically obtained with fully informed consent, before they are given to volunteers in microdose studies. Companies such as Asterand, work exclusively with human tissue because it is more appropriate than animal tissue. Check out www.asterand.com
• Microdosing: a new method of obtaining human metabolism data, which enables investigational drugs to be taken into humans earlier. Microdosing relies on the ultrasensitivity of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS), one of the most sensitive measuring devices ever invented. Using AMS it is possible to conduct a full human metabolism study after administration of as little as 0.1 milligram of drug substance, measuring drug concentrations in biological fluids up to 1000 times less than the levels one would observe in a classical Phase I clinical study. This should be part of 'Phase 0' pre-clinical trials for every drug, instead of animal testing. EU and US regulators have endorsed the use of microdosing to speed and improve the safety of drug development.
• Microfluidics chips: again just 2cm wide, have etched into them a series of tiny chambers, each containing a sample of tissue from different parts of the body. The compartments are linked by microchannels through which a blood substitute flows. The test drug is added to the blood substitute and circulates around the device; thus mimicking what goes on in the body on a micro scale. Sensors in the chip feed back information for computer analysis. Hurel are pioneering this field www.hurelcorp.com
• New imaging technologies: such as Magnetoencephalography (MEG), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (fMRI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), event-related optical signals (EROS), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and others are offering a view of the human body - in particular, the brain - that cannot be gained by studying animals.
• Post-Marketing Drug Surveillance: if enforced, would ensure that unexpected side effects of new drugs would be identified much sooner; thus reducing the burden of adverse drug reactions: currently one of the leading causes of death.
• Prevention: is always more effective than cure. It is estimated that 80% of all cancers and heart disease - our two biggest killers - could be prevented. Funding further research into establishing preventive factors would be money well spent.
• Stem cell research: offers potential promise of treatment for a wide variety of diseases. Human stem cells have already been used successfully to treat some leukaemias, as well as improving outcomes for heart attack patients and for some patients suffering from Parkinson's disease. Stem cell research has also benefited research into cures for cancers, Alzheimer's, diabetes, arthritis, strokes and spinal cord injuries. This alternative has stirred up a great deal of controversy since it involves using stem cells from human embryos. However, a breakthrough in alternative research has found a way for normal skin cells to mimic embryotic stem cells! Go here for more information

Testing drugs on animals does not offer even a 50% likelihood of predicting the effects of drugs in humans. Likewise, researching human disease using animals is misleading and results in delays, deaths and other harms. Replacing the animal model is not about finding a one-to-one replacement for every current use of animals: that would be fallacious since the way animals are currently used is ineffective. Therefore we need to use research techniques that genuinely are effective; such as those described above.