Issues

Over the past three months, laboratories have escalated the largely hidden practice of gassing to death thousands of animals - mostly rats and mice, but likely other small mammals such as guinea pigs and hamsters – because the COVID-19 pandemic has made it problematic for lab personnel to administer routine care.

Recent news has touted the success of scientists to use genetic engineering on pigs, claiming this will make pig organs feasible for transplanting into humans.

Scientists have created gene-edited piglets that tested negative for viruses that could be transferred to humans.  Dr. George Church, a Harvard geneticist who led the experiments, claims that the first pig-to-human transplants could occur within the next two years. 

What must be the key driver in our quest to replace animals in experiments -- is it science or ethics?