Rapid Responses to:

NEWS: Susan Mayor Oxford animal research centre opens despite disruption from protestors BMJ 2008; 337: a2532 [Full text]

Rapid Responses: Submit a response to this article

Rapid Responses published:

Animal research - about as accurate as flipping a coin?

P Bickley   (21 November 2008)

Animal research - about as accurate as flipping a coin? 21 November 2008
P Bickley, GP 190 Aston Lane B20 3HE Send response to journal: Re: Animal research - about as accurate as flipping a coin?	The opening of Oxford animal research centre comes at a time when questions are being asked about the value of animal experiments. Some European doctors and scientists are expressing concern about whether animal testing, today, is more harmful than helpful to public health and safety.(1) Doctors in the United States of American develop the argument that the replacement of animal methods with non-animal techniques often yields both ethical and technical advantages.(2) The Dr Hadwen Trust is dedicated to advancing medical research via non-animal methods. It comments that at the start of the 21st century, non-animal techniques have become the cutting edge of medical research. Animal experiments are already being replaced by a range of non-animal methods that, as well as being more humane, frequently prove cheaper, quicker and more effective.(3) The relevance of animal models to human health is questioned because of differences between the species. Recent review has pointed out the discordance between animal and human studies which may be due to bias or the failure of animal models to mimic clinical disease adequately.(4) A BMJ editorial concluded that positive results in animal studies rarely translate to the clinical domain.(5) Previous analysis concluded that only about a third of highly cited animal research translated at the level of human randomized trials.(6) Prior to this publication there was concern that much animal research into potential treatments for humans is wasted because it is poorly conducted and not evaluated through systematic reviews.(7) Is animal research about as accurate as flipping a coin? If so this is an appalling waste of animals’ lives and a risk to the health of patients. (1) http://www.curedisease.net/ (2) http://www.pcrm.org/resch/anexp/index.html (3) http://www.drhadwentrust.org/ (4) Perel P, Roberts I, Sena E, Wheble P, Briscoe C, Sandercock P, Macleod M, Mignini L, Jayaram P, Khan K. Comparison of treatment effects between animal experiments and clinical trials: systematic review. BMJ 2007; 334:197-200 (5) Hackam D. Translating animal research into clinical benefit. BMJ 2007; 334:163-164 (6) Hackam D, Redelmeier, D. Translation of research evidence from animals to humans. JAMA 2006; 296:1731-1732. (7) Pound P, Ebrahim S, Sandercock P, Bracken M, Roberts I. Where is the evidence that animal research benefits humans? BMJ 2004; 328:514-517 Competing interests: None declared