The Importance of Animal Models in Biomedical Research: Current Insights and Applications

Abstract

Animal research is considered a key element in advance of biomedical science. Although its use is controversial and raises ethical challenges, the contribution of animal models in medicine is essential for understanding the physiopathology and novel treatment alternatives for several animal and human diseases. Current pandemics' pathology, such as the 2019 Coronavirus disease, has been studied in primate, rodent, and porcine models to recognize infection routes and develop therapeutic protocols. Worldwide issues such as diabetes, obesity, neurological disorders, pain, rehabilitation medicine, and surgical techniques require studying the process in different animal species before testing them on humans. Due to their relevance, this article aims to discuss the importance of animal models in diverse lines of biomedical research by analyzing the contributions of the various species utilized in science over the past five years about key topics concerning human and animal health.

Keywords: animal research; laboratory animals; nematodes; pigs; primates; rodents; translational research; zebrafish.

Figure 1

Classification of various animal models. The animals used in science can be divided into five broad types. (a) The main ones are models in which animals are induced to present a pathology similar to one that affects humans or other animals by administering drugs or other biologicals, inflicting injuries, or subjecting them to stress or other environmental conditions. In contrast, models based on spontaneous changes (b) include animals where the normal course of their life predisposes them to develop a specific disease. (c) Genetically-modified test subjects are animals with knockin or knockout genes or proteins. In contrast to using healthy animals (e), negative models (d) employ individuals that are not susceptible to certain diseases but serve to evaluate susceptibility to a specific pathology. TBI: traumatic brain injury.