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Moving Toward Nonanimal Approaches in Medical Research and Testing

  • 1st Edition - September 29, 2026
  • Latest edition
  • Editors: Gail A. Van Norman, Catharine E. Krebs
  • Language: English

Moving Toward Nonanimal Approaches in Medical Research and Testing pioneers a single-source guide for researchers regarding nonanimal research tools and methodologies and their… Read more

Description

Moving Toward Nonanimal Approaches in Medical Research and Testing pioneers a single-source guide for researchers regarding nonanimal research tools and methodologies and their many advantages and applications in place of animals. This book is presented in three parts: historical, ethical, legislative, and scientific contexts on the need to shift away from animal-based research and testing; the latest advances in nonanimal tools and methods for biomedical research and testing of human therapeutics and other compounds, including microphysiological systems, bioprinting, biobanks, and artificial intelligence; and achieving a practical shift toward these powerful approaches, including advocacy for legal, regulatory, and policy change, securing funding for nonanimal studies, and how to overcome bias against nonanimal methods. This book, primarily directed to researchers in biomedicine, human medical therapeutics, and toxicology, will also appeal to researchers in industry, providing overview and insights about the latest applications of nonanimal research tools and methods for product development and testing. Clinicians who wish to understand the reliability of testing therapeutics with nonanimal versus animal methods, as well as advocacy groups seeking an up-to-date understanding of ethical, economic, political, and scientific considerations in moving toward nonanimal approaches, will also find significant value in this text. Finally, legislators and those involved in regulatory review and oversight will benefit from this single comprehensive source for developing a basic understanding of nonanimal research and human safety.

Key features

  • Presents an overview of historical, ethical, and scientific issues regarding animal and nonanimal research and testing approaches
  • Delivers the latest in nonanimal experimental advances and applications
  • Provides practical guidance about overcoming funding, publication, and other hurdles for researchers using nonanimal approaches
  • Discusses legislative, policy, and advocacy approaches to advancing nonanimal approaches

Readership

Basic and translational researchers in medical therapeutics

Table of contents

Part I. The Need to Move Away From Animal-Based Research and Testing: Historical, Ethical, Legislative, and Scientific Context


1. Beyond Alternatives: Unpacking the Ethics and Politics of Animal Research and the Need for Systemic Change

2. Legislative History of Animal-Based Research and Implications for the Shift to Nonanimal Methods

3. The Validity and Translatability of Preclinical Animal Research

4. Systemic Failures and Suffering in Animal-Based Research: Why a Human-Relevant Paradigm Is Urgently Needed

5. Case Studies on the Failures of Animal Research

Part II. Advances in Nonanimal Methods for Research and Testing


6. Microphysiological Systems

7. The Application of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) as New Approach Methods (NAMs) Toward Nonanimal Testing

8. 3D Bioprinting as a Promising Alternative to Animal Models: Technologies and Applications

9. The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Overcoming Animal Testing

10. Biobanks: Yielding Extraordinary Returns for Human Health and Disease

11. Emphasizing Ancestry in Human-Based Biomedical Research

Part III. Achieving a Practical Shift Toward Nonanimal-Based Research and Testing


12. Overcoming Inertia Against Nonanimal Research and Testing in the United States

13. Overcoming Inertia Against Nonanimal Approaches Around the World

14. Perspectives From Pharmaceutical Industry Regarding Nonanimal-Based Research and Testing

15. Overcoming Animal Methods Bias and Its Impacts on Nonanimal Research Assessments

16. Unlocking Funding for Human-Relevant Biomedical Research: Navigating the Landscape of Nonanimal Approaches

17. Building Confidence in New Approach Methodologies Through Reporting, Validation, and Benchmarking

18. Phasing Out Animal Tests: An Analysis of the Successful Transition From Rabbits to Human-Relevant Methods in Europe

19. Safety Within REACH? A Transition Analysis for the European Commission Roadmap to Animal-Free Safety Assessment of Industrial Chemicals

Product details

  • Edition: 1
  • Latest edition
  • Published: September 29, 2026
  • Language: English

About the editors

GV

Gail A. Van Norman

Gail A. Van Norman is a Professor Emeritus of the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. She is an academic clinician/ethicist who has spent over 35 years in clinical practice and published a number of articles regarding the ethics and back ground of animal research, as well as regula tory issues in pharmaceutical research and the failure of animal studies to provide effec tive scientific translation to human medicine. Her reviews of animal and nonanimal research published in JACC Basic to Translational Science have been among the most highly read, downloaded, and cited articles throughout the journal’s history. She has been an invited speaker at national and international meetings regarding the issues of animal research and translational science failures.

Affiliations and expertise
Professor Emeritus, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington, USA

CK

Catharine E. Krebs

Catharine E. Krebs, PhD, is a medical research program manager at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, where she engages with US policymakers to advance human-centered research and reduce animal use. She has authored numer ous congressional statements and public comments to federal agencies. She is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and leads the Coalition to Illuminate and Address Animal Methods Bias. An invited speaker at national and international meetings, she reg ularly presents on research policy and advancing nonanimal scientific approaches. She earned her PhD in human genetics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Affiliations and expertise
Medical Research Specialist, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, USA

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