Wasted Money in United States Biomedical and Agricultural Animal Research

Authors

Jim Keen, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2019

Abstract

Biomedical and agricultural animal research uses millions of experimental animals and dozens of animal species each year by choice, precedent, or regulatory mandate in basic and applied life science research and toxicity testing of drugs, chemicals, and consumer products. Animal research is a large component of the international us$270 billion government-subsidized, biomedical industrial ecosystem (Chakma et al., 2014). In the United States (us) and presumably elsewhere, about half of these funds support animal research and testing (Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, 2012). Each year at least 115 million experimental animals (mostly mice and likely a significant underestimate) are used worldwide (Akhtar, 2015). The status quo animal research environment provides “ecosystem services” to a large number of inter- dependent “species”, including governments, academia, biotechnology, agri-food and pharmaceutical industries, and publishers. Losers in this system are the conscripted animals (for “labor”) and taxpayers (for “capital”).

Comments

open access book chapter

Recommended Citation

Keen, J. (2019). Wasted money in United States biomedical and agricultural animal research. In Animal Experimentation: Working Towards a Paradigm Change (pp. 244-272). Brill.