This was illustrated by a 1989 study to determine the carcinogenicity of fluoride. Approximately 520 rats and 520 mice were given daily doses of the mineral for two years. Not one mouse was adversely affected by the fluoride, but the rats experienced health problems, including mouth and bone cancer. If test data cannot accurately be extrapolated from a mouse to a rat, it certainly cannot be extrapolated from either species to a human. The drugs thalidomide, Zomax and DES were all tested on animals and judged safe, but they had devastating consequences for the people who used them.
Animal experimentation wastes time as well by leading researchers down blind alleys.
For example, Physiome Sciences used mathematically based computer models to show the biophysical properties of both normal and diseased mammalian cells. These virtual organs can accurately predict the effects of drug therapies for a variety of diseases. Some of the most informative research takes place in hospitals, clinics and the offices of statisticians and epidemiologists. Clinical trials, using human volunteers, case studies, autopsy reports and statistical analyses permit far more accurate observation and use of actual environmental factors related to human disease than is possible with animals confined in laboratories. It is not surprising that those who make money experimenting on animals or supplying vivisectors with cages, restraining devices and food for caged animals insist that nearly every medical advance has been made through the use of animals.