Overview
The American Physiological Society
supports the humane use of animals in medical research. Medical
research is beneficial to humans and all other animals, and certain
kinds of questions can only be answered through animal studies.
Physiologists study the organs and systems of the body and therefore
rely heavily on animal models for their research. Researchers
can and do answer many important questions through research using
molecules, genes, cells, and computers. But to see how the body
as a whole is affected, there must also be animal studies.
The APS believes that animal research should be conducted humanely,
and that such research itself is the most humane response to human
suffering from disease. (See "Animal Research").
It would be unethical to experiment on human patients by withholding
a known treatment in favor of one which may or may not work or
by administering untested drugs. Animal research makes it possible
to study a disease in a controlled environment (i.e., animals
whose bodies resemble humans in relevant ways) in order to understand
what happens and to test whether a new treatment is likely to
be safe and effective.
Medical and scientific experts agree that whole-animal studies
are essential to medical progress. In 1994, the U.S. Public Health
Service issued a statement on The Importance
of Animals in Biomedical and Behavioral Research.
The APS believes that the use of animals is necessary for the
proper teaching of students of the biomedical sciences. (See "The Use of
Animals in Teaching the Biomedical Sciences"). The APS also believes
that both research and the care of laboratory animals must take
place according to the highest legal and ethical standards. (See "APS
Guiding Principles for the Care and Use of Animals" and "FASEB
Statement of Principles for the Use of Animals in Research and Education").
These documents reference the Guide
for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, which has
been the key reference since 1963 for researchers (both US and
international) funded by the National Institutes of Health. The
Society also seeks every opportunity to support and promote these
standards. For example, all APS journals insist that research
findings involving animal subjects must conform to the relevant
standards for humane care and use of animals in order to be published.
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