Why do we need animal testing, Ms Barkat?
Text: Tania Rinaldi Barkat, neuroscientist
Experiments on animals provide fundamental insights and enable progress in medicine. However, they raise ethical and political questions. Perspectives from the field of neuroscience on the uses and the future of animal testing.
Scientific research is constantly expanding human knowledge, leading to breakthroughs in medicine and technology. Animal research is a crucial yet often misunderstood component of this progress. Despite advancements in alternative methods such as organoids and computer models, animals remain essential in many fields.
Biological systems are incredibly complex, and while alternative models provide valuable insights, they often lack the intricate interactions present in a living organism. The study of the brain, for instance, requires an intact, functioning neural network with sensory inputs, feedback mechanisms and connections that span multiple brain regions. Currently, no alternative exists that can fully replicate this level of complexity.
Valuable basic research.
Animal experiments for basic research in particular are criticized for lacking immediate application. Yet history shows that fundamental discoveries drive transformative advancements. For example, early studies on the nervous system in animals led to discoveries in synaptic plasticity, which now inform treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis.
Almost all recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine since 1901 based their discoveries on animal research. More generally, research involving animal experiments has played a crucial role in the development of treatments for cancer, AIDS and asthma, and in vaccines and organ transplantation.
Are the results transferable?
Nevertheless, the accusation persists that most animal experiments have no benefit for human medicine because the results are not transferable. A mouse is not a human being. However, humans and mice share 95% of their genetic material, have similar organ functions and suffer from similar diseases. Because of these parallels, findings from experiments with mice are valuable for human medicine and are transferable in the majority of cases.
Last but not least, the scale of animal testing is often misrepresented in public discourse. Far more animals are raised for meat production in Europe than are used in research, and pet cats kill more animals in a week than biomedical research does in a year. Dogs, cats and primates make up just 0.2% of research animals; most studies involve smaller animals such as mice or zebrafish.
Every animal used in research requires approval from local, cantonal and federal ethics commissions. The 3Rs principle of replacement, reduction and refinement ensures that alternative methods are used whenever possible, that the number of animals used is minimized and that their welfare is maximized. In other words, researchers may only use animals when strictly necessary, must use as few animals as possible, and must only inflict minimal suffering.
Tania Rinaldi Barkat is Professor of Neuroscience and Head of the Brain and Sound Lab at the Department of Biomedicine, ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½. Her team studies how the brains of mice process sound. Their findings form the basis for a new generation of hearing prostheses, for example.
More articles in this issue of UNI NOVA (May 2025).