Animal Models

While replacing and reducing the use of laboratory animals are integral parts of the 3Rs—replace, reduce, refine—which form the cornerstones of laboratory animal science, biomedical research involving animals remains absolutely essential for the advancement of the medical, veterinary, agricultural, and biological sciences.

The conservative nature of animal evolution makes animal models the ideal tool for learning about human biology.

Progress in understanding skin diseases has been aided enormously by the use of tissues derived from animals, by studying normal processes in animals, and by the development of animal models. The cellular activities in animals and humans are remarkably similar and the actual pathological process of an inflammatory skin disease can only be accurately observed and analyzed in a living animal model, and not in any in vitro model system. These factors have led to the regular use of animal tissues and models to allow the disease processes to be studied at a much greater depth.