The percentage of people who were against the use of dogs or monkeys was higher than that of those who were against the use of mice or pigs. Our results revealed that the phylogenetic scale is an important factor in people's opinions of the use of certain species in research. Results: The study comprised a total of 807 participants (never worked = 285, used to work = 56, currently working = 466), almost two thirds of whom were women. We also aimed to determine whether or not people currently involved in biomedical research with the aforementioned species felt their work was justified. In this study we aimed to explore what people in Spain who had never or who no longer worked with laboratory animals thought of the use of mice, pigs, dogs and monkeys for biomedical research purposes. An individual's level of concern is generally influenced by their culture, previous or current experience with animals, and the specific animal species in question. Overall, we highlight here the need for a conceptual shift in neuroscience research and policies to reach the patients.īackground: The use of animals in biomedical science remains controversial. Furthermore, it is not usually acknowledged by researchers and regulators the value of comparative studies in lower species, that are instrumental in toxicology, target identification, and mechanistic studies.
The creation of multidisciplinary teams, in which veterinarians need to play a key role, would be critical to improve translational efficiency. We propose that instead of increasingly restrictive legislation, more resources for training, education, husbandry, and data sharing are urgently needed. Among others, lack of resources and formal training, strict legislation, and ethical issues may impede broad access to large animals. Non-human primates are better positioned to provide relevant translational information because of their higher brain complexity and homology to humans. Notwithstanding, mice are still the preferred animal species to model human brain disorders even when the translation has been shown to be limited. Global initiatives to improve reproducibility and model selection are being implemented. Animal models play a pivotal role in translational neuroscience but recurrent problems in data collection, analyses, and interpretation, lack of biomarkers, and a tendency to over-reliance on mice have marred neuroscience progress, leading to one of the highest attrition rates in drug translation.