Customer Reviews

Animal Models in Light of Evolution

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This book addresses the very important and frustrating issue of using animals to predict human response. It is the scientists' version of the authors other book FAQs About the Use of Animals in Science. Most people who use animals in research justify such use by claiming the results from animals will predict human response to drugs and disease. The authors show that this claim is false, as animals cannot predict what a drug will do in humans or how the human body will respond to diseases like HIV/AIDS. It points out that animals can be used to find new facts about species specific biologies, but they cannot predict how humans will respond to drugs or disease. While many books merely list examples where the animal model got it wrong, this book combines theory with the empirical. The first half examines what evolutionary biology and complex systems predict about using one species to predict response from another while the last half examines specific studies and cases. This book will revolutionize the debate about using animals in research and drug testing.

This is a very important and well argued book that is a must read for all people interested in the use of animals in biomedical research. The authors are very well-known and respected scholars and their arguments must be taken seriously not only to save animals but to save humans.