Opponents claim that animal experiments do notwork, since the differences between humans and animals often result in an understanding ofanimals that does not directly apply to humans. Read on and see what you think. Much progress has been made in the last twenty-five years in the development of laboratory techniques used to study biological questions. The techniques used in molecular biology and cell culture have improved dramatically, and it is now possible to introduce DNA sequences into cell cultures and to study the effects of these sequences on individual cells. Some researchers claim that cell culture experiments combined with epidemiologicalstudies can effectively replace animal testing.
Epidemiological studies analyze large groups of people that have a disease.
These groups are compared to another set of individuals that are similar but lack the disease. By comparing these two groups, investigators can identify factors that could contribute to the disease. These factors range from exposure to toxic materials to inborn genetic defects. For example, although a drug may prevent the progression of a disease in cell culture, you do not know whether that same drug will be able to reach those cells in the body of an organism. It is also impossible to tell whether that drug may have toxic effects not related to the cells being studied.