A campaign has been launched urging the public to support animal-free breast cancer research. The initiative sees pathologists creating human breast tissues, to more accurately understand the disease and spare the lives of millions of animals simultaneously.
Animal Free Research UK is behind the campaign and is striving to raise £90,000 to fund the research. The innovative method investigates the role of environmental pollutants in breast cancer risk. This work will help to understand causes and possible prevention of the disease.
In the UK, 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Men also have a 1 in 870 chance of developing the disease.
According to the organisation, animal-free research “has the best chance of success”.
“Human disease can only be examined properly using human tissue”.
Contrastingly, testing human treatments and drugs on animals frequently fails. PETA pointed out that 90% of National Institutes of Health animal experiments fail. Similarly, 95% of pharmaceutical drugs test safe and effective for animals, but then do not work in human trials.
In 2016, almost 4 million animals were used for research in the UK alone, including nearly 5,000 procedures on dogs, and almost 4,000 procedures on primates. Horses, mice, birds, donkeys, fish and cats were among the other kinds of animals tested on. In fact, 7 animals in Britain are used for experimenting every single minute.
“Animal Free Research UK is showing how research that helps us fundamentally understand human biology and disease can and should take place without the need to use any animals.”
So far the campaign has raised more than £16,000. If you would like to donate or learn more, please click here.
This post was last modified on December 15, 2020 6:22 am