"We still need animal research"

"We still need animal research"

Max Planck researchers and animal care takers explain why animal research is still indispensable for basic research

April 22, 2021

In Germany and other European countries, there is a recurring discussion about animal research and the possibility of a transition to animal-free innovations. In the Netherlands, there has been an extensive discussion about phasing out animal procedures and stimulating innovation without laboratory animals. However, advances on alternative methods have not progressed enough for a complete phasing-out. Max Planck researchers and animal care takers view their work with animals in research as a privilege, not an automatic right. Here they explain for which type of issues they still need animal research.

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"Defects during the formation of eggs or sperm are the main causes of pregnancy loss in humans and animals. What causes these defects is still largely unknown today. For ethical reasons, we can only perform the crossbreeding experiments necessary to study them with animals."
Linda Odenthal-Hesse, research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön

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