Animal-Free Medical Research Advances Through New Technologies

Organ-on-a-chip systems, AI modeling, and advocacy from groups like the National Anti-Vivisection Society are accelerating the shift toward human-relevant research methods that could replace animal testing.

If a pregnant rat is given thalidomide, a sedative and morning sickness drug, the chances are that very little will happen. The animal will likely give birth to a litter of healthy pups and go about her maternal duties of nesting and nursing without any obvious issues. If a pregnant human is given thalidomide, however, the story is tragically different. In the human body, the drug can disrupt embryonic development, leading to severe birth defects, including limb differences. Unfortunately, back in the 1950s, thalidomide was tested on rats, assumed to be safe, and rolled out to thousands of people across 46 countries. As a result, more than 10,000 children were born with severe birth defects. RELATED: Vegan Mānuka Honey, With All the Benefits, May Be on Its Way to Shelves Animal testing isn’t just unethical. It’s unreliable, too. For many people, the most obvious problem with animal testing, of course, is that it is unethical to animals. An estimated 100 million animals, including rats, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs, and cats, are used in US research and testing each year. During experiments, animals may be infected with diseases, deliberately blinded, force-fed, or burned, among other procedures. Many are euthanized afterward if they do not die during the experiments. Research shows that the belief that this treatment is fundamentally wrong is not a minority view. It is, actually, increasingly mainstream. Millions of animals, including rats, mice, and guinea pigs, are used in research across the US every year. RELATED: Fewer Monkeys, Better Science: The FDA Is Finally Rethinking Animal Testing In 2026, a Gallup poll found that nearly 50 percent of Americans believed animal testing was morally wrong. But other research estimates that percentage might be even higher. In 2024, for example, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) conducted a poll of more than 2,200 Americans, asking whether the US government should commit to phasing out animal experiments; 80 percent either agreed or strongly agreed. But as the thalidomide example demonstrates, using animals in medical research can also be unreliable and even pose a risk to human health. Today, more than 90 percent of drug candidates that appear safe or effective in animal studies ultimately fail during human clinical trials. Herein lies the problem: a human is not a rat, and a guinea pig is not a human. Different species process drugs in different ways. Animal testing is unreliable because humans and other animals have different biologies, maintains NAVS. RELATED: Is Veganism a Diet or a Lifestyle? The Definitive Guide “On a fundamental level, we have different biologies, different physiologies, different immune systems,” Gwen Kaminski, the vice president of advancement at the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS), explains to VegNews. It works both ways. Penicillin, which has saved around 500 million human lives since its discovery in the 1920s, can be toxic to animals commonly used in laboratories, including guinea pigs and hamsters. Had researchers depended on certain animal models, the antibiotic might have appeared too risky to pursue. “We process drugs and other substances differently,” adds Kaminski. “So how a treatment works in another species does not necessarily predict how that will translate to humans. That is why we see the 90-plus percent failure rate.” This is one key reason why NAVS, alongside scientific and advocacy organizations around the world, has spent nearly a century working toward a future without animal testing. And it appears policymakers and researchers have been listening. “The future that NAVS has been working toward for nearly a century is no longer hypothetical,” says Kaminski. “We are seeing extraordinary progress in our movement,” she continues. “We’re seeing scientists developing the technologies that can replace animal testing, we’re seeing policymakers creating pathways to validate the use of those technologies, and we’re seeing public sentiment shifting in real time.” Animal-free research methods are often more reliable because they reflect human biology. | NAVS The future of research is animal-free, and it’s closer than you think In 2022, a new law removed the blanket federal requirement for every new drug to undergo animal testing. In 2025, the Food and Drug Administration released its Roadmap to Reducing Animal Testing in Preclinical Safety Studies, which called for accelerating the adoption of “human-relevant methods.” NAVS has funded the development of alternative technologies for decades. Last year, with support from the organization, University of Maryland bioengineering doctoral student Ian Smith developed a device designed to help medical professionals understand how specific cancers may respond to different treatments. “Federal agencies are making unprecedented commitments to move away from animal testing to reduce the use of animals in research, and ultimately…

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