ArticleThe EMBO journal2022
Do we still need animals? Surveying the role of animal-free models in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease research.
Article in The EMBO journal, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Animal models of critical illness in the Asia-Pacific region: current practices, shared challenges, and future directions.Intensive care medicine experimental · 2026Review
- Precision-Controlled Bionic Lung Simulator for Dynamic Respiration Simulation.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Balancing ethics and statistics: machine learning facilitates highly accurate classification of mice according to their trait anxiety with reduced sample sizes.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- The use of animals in physiological science: the past, the presence, and the future.Pflugers Archiv : European journal of physiology · 2024Article
- Updating the Pharmacological Effects of α-Mangostin Compound and Unraveling Its Mechanism of Action: A Computational Study Review.Drug design, development and therapy · 2024Review
- Altered ubiquitin signaling induces Alzheimer's disease-like hallmarks in a three-dimensional human neural cell culture model.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Lipid rafts and human diseases: why we need to target gangliosides.FEBS open bio · 2023Review
- PET imaging to assess fibroblast activation protein inhibitor biodistribution: A training program adapted to pharmacology education.Pharmacology research & perspectives · 2022Article
- Review
- Cell models for Down syndrome-Alzheimer's disease research.Neuronal signaling · 2022Review
- Do we still need animals? Surveying the role of animal-free models in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease research.The EMBO journal · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The use of animals in neuroscience and biomedical research remains controversial. Policy is built around the "3R" principle of "Refining, Reducing and Replacing" animal experiments, and across the globe, different initiatives stimulate the use of animal-free methods. Based on an extensive literature screen to map the development and adoption of animal-free methods in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease research, we find that at least two in three examined studies rely on animals or on animal-derived models. Among the animal-free studies, the relative contribution of innovative models that may replace animal experiments is limited. We argue that the distinction between animal research and alternative models presents a false dichotomy, as the role and scientific value of both animal and animal-free approaches are intertwined. Calls to halt all animal experiments appear premature, as insufficient non-animal-based alternatives are available and their development lags behind. In light of this, we highlight the need for objective, unprejudiced monitoring, and more robust performance indicators of animal-free approaches.
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Registered trials
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