Animal Models in Biomedical Research: Realities, Misconceptions, and Controversies

From early experimental physiology to modern mouse genetics, animal models have been central to the advancement of biomedical knowledge, enabling mechanistic insights into human disease and driving the development of transformative therapies. Animal model investigations have generated most of the key concepts in modern medicine and established therapeutic breakthroughs, including insulin replacement, renin-angiotensin system inhibition, lipid-lowering strategies, and cancer immunotherapy. Recent enthusiasm for new approach methodologies, such as organoids, microphysiological devices, and computational platforms, has prompted speculation that animal experimentation may be rendered obsolete. However, new approach methodologies remain reductionist and are incapable of reproducing the architectural, cellular, and integrative complexity of living organisms. Although animal studies face challenges related to research rigor, publication bias favoring low-probability findings, and disease heterogeneity, these limitations reflect problems rooted in current research practices rather than fundamental intrinsic flaws of the models. Animal experimentation therefore remains indispensable and irreplaceable for mechanistic discovery and therapeutic innovation.