Could Stem Cell Research End Animal Experimentation?
The CNN headline is certainly enticing: “Scientist: Stem cells could end animal testing.” However, as one reads the article, it becomes clear that the headline is not completely accurate. The scientist featured in the article, Christine Mummery, a Professor of Developmental Biology at Leiden University Medical Center in The Netherlands, does not say that stem cell research could end vivisection. Instead, the article reports that Mummery “described how using embryonic stem cells to create human heart cells could be a viable and scientifically exciting alternative to animal testing” at a recent scientific meeting in the UK. Developing one alternative to animal testing is not the same as ending animal testing. Stem cell research may someday replace certain tests, but will not replace all vivisection. Mummery uses the example of early stages of drug testing. What the article does
The CNN headline is certainly enticing: “Scientist: Stem cells could end animal testing.” However, as one reads the article, it becomes clear that the headline is not completely accurate. The scientist featured in the article, Christine Mummery, a Professor of Developmental Biology at Leiden University Medical Center in The Netherlands, does not say that stem cell research could end vivisection. Instead, the article reports that Mummery “described how using embryonic stem cells to create human heart cells could be a viable and scientifically exciting alternative to animal testing” at a recent scientific meeting in the UK. Developing one alternative to animal testing is not the same as ending animal testing. Stem cell research may someday replace certain tests, but will not replace all vivisection. Mummery uses the example of early stages of drug testing. What the article does
