Computing, Science & Education
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With devastating logic and clarity, Dr Pandora Pound, Research Director at Safer Medicines Trust, comprehensively dismantles the case for animal research, bringing to an end the 150-year-old debate about its value once and for all. Focusing on the science rather than animal suffering – and including no distressing details – she provides a riveting account of how the practice became so well established, before proceeding to painstakingly reveal the futility and shockingly poor quality of most animal studies.
Medical progress is being thwarted by an obsolete and harmful practice, but Pound showcases the awe-inspiring technologies, both old and new, that would revolutionise medicine if only it could escape the stranglehold of animal research. Rat Trap slays the many myths about animal research and shows that, far from being a necessary evil, it is one of the most important and urgent scientific issues of our time.
‘What a corker of a book! A superb analysis of the promises and pitfalls limiting the use of animals in medical research. Lucid and elegantly written. Highly recommended.’ -- Dr James Le Fanu, doctor, columnist for the Daily Telegraph and author of Too Many Pills and The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine.
‘Beautifully written, her arguments hum with clarity. Destined to be a classic and to make a difference in the world.’ -- Dr Ricardo Blaug, political scientist and author of How Power Corrupts.
‘Dr Pandora Pound transformed the debate on animal experiments in 2004 as lead author of the landmark study ‘Where is the evidence that animal research benefits humans?’. Published in the prestigious British Medical Journal, it provoked a storm of controversy – and a series of scientific studies revealing the startling unreliability of animals as surrogates for humans in medical research. As a result, reports of ‘breakthroughs’ based on animal studies now routinely carry disclaimers about the implications for patients.
In Rat Trap, Dr Pound brings us up to date with this deeply controversial issue. She sets out the evidence for animal models being abandoned as a matter of urgency, and shows how resistance from some elements of the scientific community poses a grave threat to medical progress.’ -- Robert Matthews, visiting professor in statistical science, Aston University, Birmingham, UK, and author of Chancing It and 25 Big Ideas
Here's what readers have to say about this book....
This highly readable book by Dr Pandora Pound unveils the woeful shortcomings of current approaches to discovering and developing new medicines for human diseases. It is hard to read without being shocked by the apparent willingness of expert scientists to waste not just of billions of pounds, but also of millions of animals' lives in the face of ever-repeated failure. This financial and ethical horror is supported by the experts' claim that, although unfortunate, experiments on animals are critical to bringing new medicines to the market, a claim lacking any validation beyond "trust me I'm an expert". This stance is comprehensively deconstructed by Dr Pound. She argues that laboratory animals are not human, and no amount of genetic or other tinkering could ever convert mouse to man. Importantly, she goes on to present examples of the impressive range of elegant alternative techniques involving human biology that provide a potentially cheaper, and decidedly more rational and ethical approach. This she follows with possible suggestions as to why the industry persists with ethically-questionable, unreliable methods when superior methods are available. Her conclusions do not reflect well on the experts and opinion leaders in the industry. The book's focus on evolution I found a particularly powerful argument against the simplistic belief that animal species are all much the same under the skin. I don't see how anyone could read this book and continue to believe that animal models provide any sort of robust predictive value for humans and our diseases. I admit to being one who originally totally bought into the essential nature of animal approaches, however my convictions were steadily and completely eroded by experience. This book should be compulsory reading for investigators, regulators, politicians and members of the public with interests in the quality of medicines for human health. But be warned, reading this book could make you angry.
