Rat Trap : The capture of medicine by animal research - and how to break free

With devastatingA�logic and clarity, Dr PandoraA�Pound, Research Director at Safer Medicines Trust, comprehensively dismantles the case for animalA�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 ofA�how the practice became so well established, before proceeding to painstakingly reveal the futility and shockingly poor quality of most animal studies.A�Medical progress is being thwarted by anA�obsolete andA�harmful practice, but Pound showcases the awe-inspiring technologies, both oldA�and new, that would revolutionise medicine if only it could escape the stranglehold of animal research. Rat Trap slays the many myths about animalA�research and shows that, far from being a necessary evil, it is one of theA�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.�_TA�-- 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.�_T -- 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?�_T. Published in the prestigiousA�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�_T based on animal studies now routinely carry disclaimers about the implications for patients. A�A�A�A�A�A�A�A�A�A�A�InA�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.�_T -- Robert Matthews, visiting professor in statistical science, Aston University, Birmingham, UK, and author ofA�Chancing ItA�andA�25 Big Ideas