About Non-Animal Research What are the alternatives to animal
experiments? At the start of the 21st Century, non-animal
techniques have become the cutting edge of medical research.
Animal experiments are being replaced by a range of alternative
methods that frequently prove cheaper, quicker and more
effective - as well as saving lives. It is possible to obtain
human cells and tissues from biopsies, post-mortems, placentas,
or as waste from surgery, and grow them in the laboratory. Cell
cultures are used in many medical fields, and have contributed
enormously to our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of
cancer, Parkinson's disease, and AIDS. Cell cultures are
routinely used in vaccine production, toxicity testing, drug
development and to diagnose disease.[break]It is important that
human cells, rather than animal cells, are used for medical
research, to avoid the problem of relating results from one
species to another. To encourage the use of human tissue the Dr
Hadwen Trust has helped establish the Hu