Explain why animals are used in research. Are there any limitations to the application of animal data to human physiology? Could these limitations be addressed using cell or tissue culture, or computer simulations?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

(Note to instructor: This may be a good question to ask early in the semester, then again toward the end, after the organ systems have been covered.) There is a brief discussion of using humans or animals in research in the chapter. This question is intended to stimulate students to think about how science is done, how data are generated, and how the process is challenged by social issues. Generally, there are limitations to the usefulness of computer simulations and cell/tissue culture systems for the same reason that nonhuman animal data are not 100% applicable to human physiology. How human organ systems perform may be different in very subtle ways from
corresponding systems in other species. Cells in culture are in an artificial environment, and while much has been learned from such systems, it has also been noted that the behavior of cells in culture is not identical to cells in a living body. Furthermore, cells cultured from established lines can change over time, becoming less like the original
cells from which they were derived, and presumably less like normal cells. Computer simulations are valuable, but are only as good as the data entered, and given that we don't know everything there is to know about physiology, we can't write a perfect computer program. All three approaches are useful, but for different reasons, and therefore
one research system does not completely substitute for another, nor is it appropriate to abandon one entirely.