Book description
Over the last decade, in vitro models have become more sophisticated
and are at a stage where they can provide an effective alternative to in
vivo experiments.
Replacing Animal Models
provides scientists and technicians with a practical, integrated guide
to developing culture-based alternatives to in vivo experiments.
The
book is neither political nor polemical: it is technical, illustrating
by example how alternatives can be developed and used and providing
useful advice on developing others. After looking at the reasons for
and potential benefits of alternatives to animal experiments, the book
covers a range of methods and examples emphasising the design
considerations that went into each system. The chapters also include
'case studies' that illustrate the ways in which culture models can be
used to answer a range of important biological questions of direct
relevance to human development, physiology, disease and healing.
The thesis of this book is not that all animal experimentation can be
replaced, now or in the near future, by equally effective or superior
alternatives. Rather, the premise is that there is substantial
opportunity, here and now, to do some common types of experiment
better in vitro than in vivo, and that doing so will result in both
scientific and ethical gains.
