Alternatives to Animal Testing, Experimentation and Dissection Articles from All-Creatures.org

Medical breakthroughs won’t come from breaking animals

From CAARE Citizens for Alternatives to Animal Research
April 2024

If we are to cure human diseases, we need breakthroughs with human-relevant information such as this, which will not come from cruel and flawed animal experiments. So we are highlighting some recent innovative medical breakthroughs that have come about through research on organoids and human cell studies, including real and promising insights for those suffering from polycystic kidney disease.

Suppose you took your car in for an engine repair and the mechanic said, "I don't know what's wrong with your car's engine, but I'm going to break the one on the car next to it. Once I've repaired that one, I might have some clues as to why your engine isn't running right."

You'd probably leave immediately and never go back there again.

Unfortunately, this is how animal research works, and it inflicts immense suffering on millions of animals while wasting valuable time and resources.

For example, researchers studying kidney disease don't understand the underlying mechanisms causing the problem. So, they damage animals’ kidneys or insert faulty genes, or induce toxicity through overdosing to poison the kidney, and then they try to fix it. At the end, they claim they might have new clues as to what the problem is.

But we need cures, not clues to treat disease. And those can only come from human-relevant research, using human cells, tissues or ethical studies with human volunteers.

In today's newsletter we highlight some innovative medical breakthroughs that have come about through research on organoids and human cell studies, including real and promising insights for those suffering from polycystic kidney disease - a condition that has stumped medical doctors for decades, leaving them with little to offer patients as their kidneys decline, other than a lifetime of dialysis or the elusive hope of a kidney transplant. But now, using organoids, new information looks to truly be leading to a cure for human patients.

If we are to cure human diseases, we need breakthroughs with human-relevant information such as this, which will not come from cruel and flawed animal experiments.

....

Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE, including:

• Scientists discover potential treatment approaches for polycystic kidney disease
• A new 3D bioprinted model offers a novel tool to study common liver disease, and perhaps find an effective treatment
• Prostate cancer: Newly-developed inhibitor shows massive potential
• Speaking without vocal cords, thanks to a new AI-assisted wearable device

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