Animals in Stem Cell Research

Mice continue to be used disproportionately in stem cell research today to detect disease development as connected to different genes and to see how stem cells interact in a pathological environment (along with other types of experimentation). Whilst there are a number of ethical considerations surrounding the use of animals in research, they have undoubtedly contributed in a major way to the understanding of stem cells and treatment applications for humans and other animals. The rapid procreation of some smaller animals, such as mice means that scientists have a ready source of experimental ‘patients’ for their research and can more easily manipulate the genetic profiles of these animals in order to mirror certain diseases in humans.

Veterinary Stem Cell Applications

Animals have also been some of the first patients to receive stem cell transplants, with veterinary medicine having made use of stem cell therapies not yet approved for use in humans. Companion animals and those involved in competitive sports such as horse-racing have been given stem cell injections to repair damaged cartilage, reverse rheumatoid arthritis, treat blood-borne disorders, and myriad conditions. The resulting data collected after these experimental treatments has often pointed the way for those researching human diseases and possible therapies using stem cells.

Problems of Animal Testing

However, non-human animals do have significant differences in physiology to humans and not all experiments on animals can be said to be accurate representations of what the likely response of a human will be to similar treatment. For example, rats have quite different ways of dealing with pharmaceuticals in the body to humans as evidenced by the Vioxx controversy where animal research formed part of a safety assessment despite rats and humans having overt differences in metabolism of rofecoxib (Pippin, 2005). There is, as yet, no clear evidence that stem cell treatment in mice, rats, dogs, humans, and other animals produces different results, but it is, perhaps, a fair estimate to say that this is likely. The research performed in recent years has found a substantial amount of evidence showing that the presence and expression of a number of genes affects the proliferation and differentiation of stem cells in vitro. As non-human animals and humans have differences both across species, and individually, it is possible that stem cells will behave differently when implanted into each patient. Animals may actually begin to be used less in research with the advent of stem cell technologies as some new techniques mean that drugs can actually be tested on tissue or cell samples grown from human stem cells, thus removing the need for a live animal model for the testing procedure.

Read More –> Safety Concerns over Premature Stem Cell Use