Animal Models Of Human Disease

Animal Models for the Study of Human Disease identifies important animal models and assesses the advantages and disadvantages of each model for the study of human disease. The first section addresses how to locate resources, animal alternatives, animal ethics and related issues, much needed information for researchers across the biological sciences and biomedicine.The next sections of the work offers models for disease-oriented topics, including cardiac and pulmonary diseases, aging, infectious diseases, obesity, diabetes, neurological diseases, joint diseases, visual disorders, cancer, hypertension, genetic diseases, and diseases of abuse. Organized by disease orientation for ease of searchability Provides information on locating resources, animal alternatives and animal ethics Covers a broad range of animal models used in research for human disease

Animal Models for the Study of Human Disease identifies important animal models and assesses the advantages and disadvantages of each model for the study of human disease. The first section addresses how to locate resources, animal alternatives, animal ethics and related issues, much needed information for researchers across the biological sciences and biomedicine.The next sections of the work offers models for disease-oriented topics, including cardiac and pulmonary diseases, aging, infectious diseases, obesity, diabetes, neurological diseases, joint diseases, visual disorders, cancer, hypertension, genetic diseases, and diseases of abuse. Organized by disease orientation for ease of searchability Provides information on locating resources, animal alternatives and animal ethics Covers a broad range of animal models used in research for human disease

The world has recorded losses in terms of human life as well as extensive time spent in experimentation with development of new drugs, elucidation of disease mechanism(s), and therapeutic agent discovery. Ethical and legal issues cojoin in slowing down scientific discoveries in medicine and biology. The past two (2) decades, therefore, have seen tremendous attempts that largely are successful in developing animal models with the characteristics of mimicking, approximating, or expressing transplanted human organs/tissues. These models or rather approaches seem to be fast, cost-effective, and easy to maintain compared to primates. This book is a collection of expert essays on animal models of human diseases of global interest. A visible objective of the book is to provide real-time experimental approach to scientists, clinicians, ethicists, medicolegal/medical jurisprudence workers, immunologists, postgraduate students, and vaccinologists and informative and multidisciplinary approach for the identification of new therapeutic targets and biomarkers using animal models as well as investigating the pathogenesis and therapeutic strategies of human diseases. An increased understanding of the genetic, molecular, and cellular mechanisms responsible for the development of human diseases has laid out the foundation for the development of rational therapies mainly with animal models.

The collection of systems represented in this volume is a unique effort to reflect the diversity and utility of models used in biomedicine. That utility is based on the consideration that observations made in particular organisms will provide insight into the workings of other, more complex systems. This volume is therefore a comprehensive and extensive collection of these important medical parallels.

This two-volume work gathers together the diverse information presently available on spontaneous animal models of human disease. In addition to providing a comprehensive review of existing models, the book presents many previous unpublished new models.The scope of this work is limited to spontaneous models. Neoplasia, infectious diseases including parasitism, and nutritionally induced or other types of experimental models have not been included. The sixteen parts of the book are alphabetically arranged according to organ system with over 230 authors contributing to the overall effort. In addition to many illustrations, the book features an extensive bibliography.

The crucial role of animal models in biomedical research calls for philosophical investigation of how and whether knowledge about human diseases can be gained by studying other species. This Element delves into the selection and construction of animal models to serve as preclinical substitutes for human patients. It explores the multifaceted roles animal models fulfil in translational research and how the boundaries between humans and animals are negotiated in this process. The book also covers persistent translational challenges that have sparked debates across scientific, philosophical, and public arenas regarding the limitations and future of animal models. Among the are persistent tensions between standardization and variation in medicine, as well as between strategies aiming to reduce and recapitulate biological complexity. Finally, the book examines the prospects of replacing animal models with animal-free methods. The Element demonstrates why animal modeling should be of interest to philosophers, social scientists, and scientists alike.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) gives the highest priority to developing countermeasures against bioterrorism agents that are highly infective when dispersed in aerosol form. Developing drugs to prevent or treat illnesses caused by bioterrorism agents requires testing their effectiveness in animals since human clinical trials would be unethical. At the request of NIAID, the National Academies conducted a study to examine how such testing could be improved. Overcoming Challenges to Develop Countermeasures Against Aerosolized Bioterrorism Agents provides recommendations to researchers on selecting the kinds of animal models, aerosol generators, and bioterrorism agent doses that would produce conditions that most closely mimic the disease process in humans. It also urges researchers to fully document experimental parameters in the literature so that studies can be reproduced and compared. The book recommends that all unclassified data on bioterrorism agent studies-including unclassified, unpublished data from U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID)-be published in the open literature. The book also calls on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to improve the process by which bioterrorism countermeasures are approved based on the results of animal studies.