Chapter 5 
The Use of Animals in Research 
Research, as the word denotes, is an ongoing 
search— a search for new information and for 
novel ways to apply existing information. Re- 
search assumes a multitude of directions in a wide 
variety of disciplines. It is not surprising, then, 
that the use of animals in research— and the po- 
tential for alternatives to using them— mirrors the 
multifaceted nature of research itself. 
Viewed broadly, almost any research investi- 
gation involving members of the animal kingdom, 
including humans, and sometimes even members 
of the plant kingdom, can be categorized as bio- 
medical research. In this sense, biomedical re- 
search covers a long list of disciplines: anatomy, 
anesthesiology, behavioral biology, biochemistry, 
biomedical engineering, biophysics, cardiology, 
cell biology, dentistry, developmental biology, en- 
docrinology, entomology, epidemiology, genetics, 
gerontology, histology, immunology, metabolism, 
microbiology, molecular biology, neurology, nu- 
trition, oncology, parasitology, pathology, phar- 
macology, physiology, psychology, radiology, re- 
productive biology, surgery, teratology, toxicol- 
ogy, veterinary science, virology, and zoology. 
When considering animal use— and alternatives 
to animal use— in research, it is useful to isolate 
behavioral research from the broader category 
of biomedical research. Rehavioral research is a 
part of biomedical research, yet is distinguished 
from the larger topic by the nature of the exper- 
iments, the identity of the researchers, and the 
kinds of alternatives available (see ch. 6). 
This chapter defines and describes animal use 
in biomedical and behavioral research. Also in- 
cluded are the results of a brief survey done by 
OTA of the use of animal and nonanimal meth- 
ods in published research reports in selected dis- 
ciplines of biomedical and behavioral research. 
THE ROLE OF ANIMALS IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH 
To discuss alternatives to using animals in bio- 
medical research, it is important to review the 
context in which animals are presently included. 
A comprehensive review of this subject (see ref. 
41) is beyond the scope of the present assessment. 
However, animals’ broad role in contemporary 
biomedical research can be at least partly delin- 
eated by considering: 
• the manifold contributions to biomedical re- 
search of a single group of animals— non- 
human primates; 
• the role of experimental animals in the de- 
velopment of a single medical procedure, 
namely coronary artery bypass surgery; and 
• the reasons multiple species are used in bio- 
medical research. 
These perspectives illustrate two fundamental 
principles of animal use in biomedical research. 
First, a single species or group of animals often 
serves a multitude of purposes in widely varying 
research enterprises. Second, a single advance in 
applied research often represents results gener- 
ated from many species. 
Nonhuman Primates in 
Biomedical Research 
Primates— humans, monkeys, and apes— share 
a common genetic basis and anatomical, physio- 
logical, biochemical, and behavioral traits that 
provide unique research opportunities. As a con- 
sequence, humans and other primates are sus- 
ceptible to many of the same diseases and have 
many of the same disease-fighting capabilities. Re- 
viewing the use of nonhuman primates is also 
appropriate because they are relatively expensive 
research animals (e.g., a rhesus monkey costs 
from $600 to $2,000) and the object of much pub- 
lic interest. Two recent reports describe the role 
of primates in biomedical research (29,45). Those 
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