PLATFORM : Animal Research

Modern medical science is replete with amazing achievements, as illustrated by larynx transplants recently achieved in dogs at UCLA.

Kidney, liver, heart/lung and pancreas transplants now routinely prolong and enhance life for thousands; severed limbs can be reattached and restored to full function. Now we have the prospect of restoring normalcy to victims of larynx cancer or neck trauma, people once condemned to dismal and precarious lives. Except at times of severe illness or trauma, most of us seldom reflect on how such phenomenal advances are made.

Medical researchers use computer models, cell and tissue cultures and other techniques of modern science, but, in the end, new surgical techniques, drug treatments and diagnostic tests must be explored and perfected on animals before use on humans. Animal studies are indispensable to medical progress and assure the safety that we often take for granted.