ArticleCambridge quarterly of healthcare ethics : CQ : the international journal of healthcare ethics committees2015
The flaws and human harms of animal experimentation.
Article in Cambridge quarterly of healthcare ethics : CQ : the international journal of healthcare ethics committees, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 224 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
224 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Exploring Genetic Therapies Targeting Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in Animal Models: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The journal of gene medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Importance of Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses of Animal Studies: Challenges for Animal-to-Human Translation.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2020Pooled it
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- Fibrin Gel as a Versatile Biomaterial Platform in the Biomedical Landscape: Chemical, Physical, and Biological Insights.Gels (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Epigenetic and Transcriptomic Pathways Underlying Animal Models of Cognitive and Psychiatric Disorders: A Scoping Review.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- 3D models for oral inflammation using gingival fibroblasts, lipopolysaccharides and hypoxia.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Natural variation suggests candidate genes underlying Caenorhabditis elegans susceptibility to diverse toxicants.Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology · 2026Article
- Breast Cancer Multicellular Spheroid Models-A Tool for Studying Cancer Biology; a Possible Platform for Drug Screening and Personalized Medicine.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- MPOX transmission risks and biosafety protocols in laboratory animal research.Laboratory animal research · 2026Review
- Enhanced information processing in the human neocortex: cellular mechanisms and translational perspectives.Frontiers in synaptic neuroscience · 2026Review
- An Innovative "Tooth-On-Chip" Microfluidic Device Emulating the Structure and Physiology of the Dental Pulp Tissue.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Article
- Developing more inclusive approaches to animal research and patient involvement.Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2025Article
164 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Nonhuman animal ("animal") experimentation is typically defended by arguments that it is reliable, that animals provide sufficiently good models of human biology and diseases to yield relevant information, and that, consequently, its use provides major human health benefits. I demonstrate that a growing body of scientific literature critically assessing the validity of animal experimentation generally (and animal modeling specifically) raises important concerns about its reliability and predictive value for human outcomes and for understanding human physiology. The unreliability of animal experimentation across a wide range of areas undermines scientific arguments in favor of the practice. Additionally, I show how animal experimentation often significantly harms humans through misleading safety studies, potential abandonment of effective therapeutics, and direction of resources away from more effective testing methods. The resulting evidence suggests that the collective harms and costs to humans from animal experimentation outweigh potential benefits and that resources would be better invested in developing human-based testing methods.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.