6 replies to this topic

[Live Forever]

Here is the text from this article that is available online, you need a subsciption to read the whole thing unfortunately:

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Can computer models replace animal testing?

16 May 2006
Celeste Biever
Magazine issue 2551

As the public debate rages over the use of animals in drug development, a change is taking place in labs across the world. The first realistic software models of human and animal organs are starting to emerge - potentially replacing some of the 50 to 100 million animals used each year for scientific research.

The first models of how the heart works were built decades ago (New Scientist, 20 March 1999, p 24), but they are much more sophisticated now. The models couple mechanical contractions to electrical waves in three dimensions, for instance, to show thousands of molecular interactions and connect the heart to a virtual circulatory system. Models of other organs, including the lung, musculoskeletal system, digestive system, skin, kidney, lymphatic system and brain are also under construction.
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How soon do you guys think we will be able to start moving into a system that allows us to use computer models instead of animal testing?

[scottl]

In theory things are the same in theory and practice.
In practice they are not.

In other words it is difficult enough when animal research doesn't match behavior in people. Models don't represent reality. Hell the studies in test tubes that opales likes to quote often don't match reality it vivo. Models could be expected to be worse.

[rahein]

Computer models can now replace the stage in drug development where they create 10,000s of interesting molecules and see which one don't kill mice. They can try to find one with the result they want from the beginning not at the end of the process. Currently animal testing is like trying to shoot a fly with a shotgun. With computer modeling first it is more like trying to shoot a fly with a sniper rifle. You still hit the fly, but with a lot less collateral damage.

Animal models are still needed before a drug moves into human testing.

Maybe in the future we will have robust enough models and enough computer power to do it all virtually, but not now.

[RighteousReason]

I would find it pretty hilarious if people thought doing tests on an animal made of carbon is less ethical than doing tests on an animal made of 1's and 0's.

[rahein]

The computer models arn't modeling animals. They model interaction between dozens to hundreds of molecules at a time.

[RighteousReason]

yeah I was speaking kind of tangentially

[maestro949]

I would find it pretty hilarious if people thought doing tests on an animal made of carbon is less ethical than doing tests on an animal made of 1's and 0's.

Who's to say that the carbon based animals aren't 0's and 1's already?