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Animals In Research Research using animals has led to substantial advances in our understanding of the biological mechanisms which result in sickness, disability and premature death. Without this we feel certain that much of which we know today would remain closed off to us with the result that we would now be further away from the prospect of early and accurate diagnosis, appropriate advice and support and in an increasing number of cases the effective therapies that have been produced through (in part) the knowledge and acquired by animal based research. Clearly research involving animals must be properly regulated, and where alternatives exist these should be used. However, we do not believe that it is yet possible to exclude the use of animals completely without either compromising safety, slowing research or both, with the result that the harm inflicted on animals used in research would be transferred to humans in the form of prolongation of disease or an increased element of risk in therapies taken through the toxicity testing and into clinical trials.
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