The Commentary "Animal Rights (And Wrongs)" by Albert Kligman [The Scientist, Oct. 29, 1990, page 16] contains many misconceptions about animal testing that merit an educated response.
In the last decades, we have found cures and treatments for tuberculosis, scarlet fever, influenza. pneumonia, diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, and smallpox.
Most of the credit goes to improvement in nutrition, hygiene, and sanitation and better living conditions. With these advancements, we have been able to effectively prevent these illnesses. Research on animals has not helped in this endeavor at all.
Many researchers are trading in their rodents for more sophisticate testing of cancer-fighting drugs. Tests on hundreds of different strains of human cancer cells growing in test tubes are much faster and less expensive than the tests on rodents.
Numerous advances have been made using non-animal methods, including:
- discovery of the relationship between cholesterol and heart disease;
- discovery of the relationships between...
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