t usage of the term, alternate methods includes replacements for mammals, reductions in the use of animals and refinement in experimental protocols that lessen the pain of the animals involved The use of animals is also regulated by the Animals Scientific Procedures Act, which is the most stringent piece of legislation in the world This act provides the highest level of security for the animals. In that term, animals are still being used, but at least there is a cutback in the amount of animals and pain involved. But one way around the suffering and one of the most popular alternative methods is in vitro. With in vitro, tissue stays alive for some time. An animal could be anaesthetized by an injection of Nembutal or other anaesthetic and the required tissue is removed while the animal is anaesthetized. Thus the total pain inflicted is a single injection. This is a simple way to not kill an animal, get what researchers need, and not really harm the animal at all. Human tissue can also be used in the same way. The use of human tissues removed at surgery or at an autopsy is another alternative. Those are both very good methods and should be used much more often. Plants resemble animals in a way that they are both susceptible to certain poisons. The closest resemblance between plants and animals is genetic mechanisms and hence claims have been made for the use of plants in cancer research. I dont know how well plants would work in relation to humans. Plants may resemble animals but obviously animals dont always resemble humans. Another alternative is dummies. Dummies are inanimate objects which resemble living creatures in a way which makes them useful for studying some features. The last and most obvious alternative is humans themselves. Willingness to use alternative methods is increasing in industry, but many companies wont be able to switch until new methods have been rubber-stamped by regulatory bodies, which still exhibits a h...
