Animal Testing in Medical Research: Benefits, Drawbacks, and Alternatives

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Part 2: Literature Review
Introduction
Animal testing has made significant contributions to the present development in biomedical
research. laboratory experiments which have been deemed unethical or toxic have successfully
been carried out using animal models, and then the findings are translated to human clinical trials
(Denayer, Stöhr, & Van Roy, 2014). However, with the increased awareness and research on the
similarity between human and animal emotions and feelings, there has been heated debate on
whether the use of animal models for biomedical research is ethical and reliable. Additionally,
advocates for animal experimentation argue that it is impossible to eliminate animal
experimentation in some experiments, but instead care should be taken not to inflict unnecessary
pain on the animals (Morgan et al., 2013). It is on this basis that this review is premised, and it is
to determine whether animal experimentation is still relevant in medical research or not. Several
peer-reviewed articles will be analyzed to provide more information with a particular emphasis
on the history of animal testing, its benefits and drawbacks, and alternative strategies to animal
experimentation.
Mak, Evaniew, and Ghert (2014) conducted a review on the present state of animal model
translation to clinical practice and the reasons for the failure, especially in clinical cancer
treatment. The use of animal models has been important in cancer research, but the successful
translation has been very low because of the limitations of the animal models to imitate the
intricate process of carcinogenesis and physiology. However, they can be useful in vivo
formation. For instance, the testing tumours developed in animals are an important preclinical
tool for assessing anticancer medications before clinical testing. However, their ability to predict
clinical efficacy is questionable thus necessitating the need for alternative translation approaches

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in vitro studies. Similar conclusions were arrived at by Martić-Kehl, Schibli, and Schubiger,
(2012) who found out that as much as animal models are critical in predictive drug development,
the observed effects in animals can not be translated to the clinic
The increasing importance of animal testing despite the current criticism on their reliability and
whether it is ethical has prompted the research into the possible alternative methods to animal
experimentation. Strähle et al. (2012) justified the use of Zebrafish embryo as an appropriate
alternative to animal experimentation. The authors contend that based on some experiments, it is
impossible to eliminate animal experimentation from biomedical research but instead there
should be alternatives. The zebrafish embryo is the most ideal alternative because it permits the
analysis of several endpoints such as acute and toxicity tests even to intricate genetic and
physiological analysis. Furthermore, the new EU Directive 2010/63/EU on the guidelines of the
animals to be used for experimentation does to include the initial stages of animal life, thus
zebrafish is not protected in this regulatory framework. The outcomes of this article are similar to
those of Mak, Evaniew, and Ghert (2014) who observed that its impossible to completely do
away with animal testing but instead alternative methods should be explored.
According to Franco (2013), the current developments in biomedical research can significantly
be attributed to animal experimentation, and that the current controversial debate on animal
testing is far from being settled, and may still be used into the foreseeable future. Nonetheless,
there needs to be transparency in animal experiments and continuous improvements in the
welfare of experimental animals in addition to the development of alternative approaches. The
proponents of animal experimentation posit that they are reliable and are the appropriate models
for human physiology and disorders in the provision of significant information for improved
human health. However, Akhtar (2015) conducted a study on the existing flaws of animal testing