Animal Research is Essential to the Search for Cures

Humane research involving animals provides unique insights into biological structure and function. These insights offer major benefits to both human and animal health. The American Physiological Society is strongly committed to ensuring that research animals are treated humanely and that their use is regulated appropriately.

Biomedical research today involves a wide array of approaches that make use of computers, molecules, cells, tissues, organs, and whole animals. Each approach addresses different elements of a research question. Together, they offer a full complement of ways to learn about living systems. Animal studies are particularly crucial for understanding how the body functions in health and disease. Basic and translational research involving animals is a necessary component in the search for causes, preventions, treatments, and cures for disease.

Approved by the American Physiological Society Council on July 16, 2010