Ch. 1— Summary, Policy Issues, and Options for Congressional Action • 7 
well-being of humans and of animals themselves, 
and it may lead to the development of methods 
that would obviate the use of some animals. 
Some nonanimal methods are becoming available 
in biomedical and behavioral research (see ch. 6). 
As more develop, animal use in research will likely 
become less common. It is important to note, how- 
ever, that even if animals cannot be replaced 
in certain experiments, researchers can at- 
tempt to reduce the number used and also to 
minimize pain and distress. 
Most alternatives to current animal use in re- 
search fall into one of four categories: 
• Continued, But Modified, Use of Animals. 
This includes alleviation of pain and distress, 
substitution of cold-blooded for warm-blooded 
vertebrates, coordination among investiga- 
tors, and use of experimental designs that pro- 
vide reliable information with fewer animals 
than were used previously. 
• Living Systems. These include micro-organ- 
isms, invertebrates, and the in vitro culture 
of organs, tissues, and cells. 
• Nonliving Systems. These include epidemio- 
logic databases and chemical and physical sys- 
tems that mimic biological functions. 
• Computer Programs. These simulate biologi- 
cal functions and interactions. 
The many fields of research — ranging from 
anatomy to zoology— use animals differently, 
and each thus has different prospects for de- 
veloping and implementing alternatives. To de- 
termine the prevalence of animal and nonanimal 
methods in varied disciplines of research, OTA sur- 
veyed 6,000 articles published between 1980 and 
1983 in 12 biomedical research journals and 3 be- 
havioral research journals (see ch. 5). Research dis- 
ciplines were distinguished by their characteris- 
tic patterns of animal use, as measured by the 
percentages of published reports showing animal 
use, no animal use, and use of humans. Animal 
methods predominated in most of the journals sur- 
veyed, including the three behavioral research 
journals. The exceptions in the overall survey were 
cell biology, which used primarily nonanimal meth- 
ods, and cardiology, which used primarily human 
subjects. 
Using alternative methods in biomedical re- 
search holds several advantages from scientific, 
economic, and humane perspectives, including: 
• reduction in the number of animals used; 
• reduction in animal pain, distress, and exper- 
imental insult; 
• reduction in investigator-induced, artifactual 
physiological phenomena; 
• savings in time, with the benefit of obtaining 
results more quickly; 
• the ability to perform replicative protocols on 
a routine basis; 
• reduction in the cost of research; 
• greater flexibility to alter conditions and vari- 
ables of the experimental protocol; 
• reduction of error stemming from interindi- 
vidual variability; and 
• the intrinsic potential of in vitro techniques 
to study cellular and molecular mechanisms . 
Many of these alternative methods are accom- 
panied by inherent disadvantages, including: 
• reduced ability to study organismal growth 
processes; 
• reduced ability to study cells, tissues, and or- 
gan systems acting in concert; 
• reduced ability to study integrated biochem- 
ical and metabolic pathways; 
• reduced ability to study behavior; 
• reduced ability to study the recovery of 
damaged tissue; 
• reduced ability to study interaction between 
the organism and its environment; 
• reduced ability to study idiosyncratic or 
species-specific responses; 
• reduced ability to distinguish between male- 
and female-specific phenomena; and 
• a handicap to probing the unknown and phe- 
nomena not yet identified. 
Behavior encompasses all the movements and 
sensations by which living things interact with both 
the living and nonliving components of their envi- 
ronment. Since one of the chief goals of behavioral 
research is an understanding of human behavior, 
there are obvious advantages to the use of human 
research subjects. There are also advantages to 
using animals, including the following: 
• Laboratory research on animals offers a 
greater opportunity to control variables such 
