Billions of dollars in research grants and private sector investments are failing to lead to effective treatments for many of the diseases that kill and incapacitate humans. Research Modernization NOW provides a roadmap for revitalizing the U.S. research and testing enterprise.
Problem
Numerous scientific studies and reviews reveal that experiments on animals fail to lead to effective treatments and cures for human diseases, including the top killers in the U.S. Reliance on animal studies is diverting funds away from more promising areas of research and delaying the development of effective drugs and treatments, limiting our ability to protect human health and the environment.
100%
The percent of HIV vaccines,12 and new drugs for stroke34 and sepsis,5 that fail in human clinical trials.
95%
The percent of all new drugs that fail in human clinical trials.6
90%
The percent of basic research that fails to lead to human health advances within 20 years.7
89%
An estimate of the percent of preclinical experiments that are not reproducible.8
81%
The percent of time that animal tests fail to detect the potential side effects of drugs in humans.9
Innovative, human biology-based research methods, such as organoids, organs-on-chips, and other advanced in vitro models; 3D printing; ‘omics techniques; and advanced computer modeling, can replace the use of animals. OPPORTUNITIES FOR ECONOMIC Advancement Opportunities for Regulatory Toxicology
Innovative, human biology-based research methods, such as organoids, organs-on-chips, and other advanced in vitro models; 3D printing; ‘omics techniques; and advanced computer modeling, can replace the use of animals.
Opportunities
To revitalize U.S. biomedical research and protect human health and the environment, PETA proposes the following:
End animal use in research areas in which animals have been demonstrated to be poor “models” of humans and their use has impeded scientific and medical progress.
Conduct systematic reviews of the efficacy of animal use to identify additional areas in which non-animal methods are available or animal use has failed to protect human health and the environment and can, therefore, be ended.
Redirect funds from animal studies to reliable, non-animal methods.
Implement a harm-benefit analysis system for animal studies that includes an ethical perspective and consideration of lifelong harm inflicted on animals.
Work with organizations and agencies globally to harmonize and promote international acceptance of non-animal testing methods for regulatory testing requirements.
Educate the scientific community about the benefits of non-animal approaches, and train scientists to use them.
This transformation can be initiated today. Without it, the research funded by U.S. taxpayers will fail to provide the discoveries and applications needed to protect human health and the environment.
“When you read about advances in medicine, it often seems like long-awaited breakthroughs are just around the corner for cancer, Alzheimer’s, stroke, osteoarthritis, and countless less common diseases. But it turns out we live in a world with an awful lot of corners.”– Richard Harris, Rigor Mortis: How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope, and Wastes Billions
“When you read about advances in medicine, it often seems like long-awaited breakthroughs are just around the corner for cancer, Alzheimer’s, stroke, osteoarthritis, and countless less common diseases. But it turns out we live in a world with an awful lot of corners.”
The observation by best-selling science journalist Richard Harris resonates with each person who is suffering or who knows someone suffering from an incurable disease—and for good reason: Billions of dollars in research grants and private sector investments are failing to lead to effective treatments for many of the diseases that kill and incapacitate humans.
A primary reason for this failure is a misplaced reliance on animal studies. A great deal of scientific research in the last several decades shows that animal studies are flawed and divert both monetary and intellectual resources from more reliable and relevant methodologies. Critically, intrinsic biological and genetic differences among species contribute significantly to inescapable problems in extrapolating results to humans from other animals, even in the best controlled and best executed study designs.
Along with mounting evidence that experiments on animals do not reliably translate to humans and the increasing development and implementation of technologies that can supplant animal use in laboratories, society’s moral acceptance of experiments on animals has decreased.
In this report, we detail the failings of animal experimentation, show how the systems in place are insufficient to correct these failures, offer a plan for replacing animal use in experimentation, identify strategic priorities, and append further information about areas in which there are opportunities for the immediate replacement of animal use.