Why it is time to restate the case for the importance of research on animals

All of a sudden, governments have begun to talk about something that once seemed impossible: the end of animal testing. Last year, the US and the UK both unveiled road maps intended to help move us towards this goal. A few months ago, the European Commission did likewise. The coming of age of technological alternatives to some kinds of animal research is to be celebrated. A few of these alternatives are actually more revealing than the animal experiments they replace. But if nations overstate what is possible, they risk reigniting a heated and painful row.

We see this overstatement not only in news headlines, but even in the titles of policy documents themselves. Some of these talk of “phasing out” animal testing, when the truth is that animal testing cannot and will not be ended entirely.

Some scientists had their property set on fire. Molotov cocktails were used

There will always be a need for certain kinds of animal research to ask fundamental biological questions and ensure drug safety. This means that, while pursuing the reduction in animal tests as far as possible, we simultaneously need to be restating the case for why animal testing is so important.

To see what happens if we don’t, look back to the late 20th and early 21st centuries, when extreme animal rights activists violently harassed and intimated scientists. Some researchers had their property set on fire. Molotov cocktails were used. National newspapers reported on calls to murder those carrying out animal experiments.

If we send out the message that animal testing can be phased out, we risk painting the scientists who continue it as wilfully causing harm to animals. Such a misunderstanding could take us back to those dark and violent times, while prematurely abandoning the kinds of animal tests for which there are no reliable alternatives would risk our health and safety.

So let’s be clear-eyed. The push to reduce animal testing where safe and possible is truly welcome. But the end of animal testing as a whole remains impossible.