This official statement was followed several months later with an announcement clarifying that the NIH “will no longer develop new funding opportunities focused exclusively on animal models of human disease” (NIH news release, July 2025).
It is true that therapeutic translation from laboratory mice — the mammalian workhorse for biomedical research — to humans for many age-related diseases has been poor.
Similarly, although the majority of more than 1,000 acute stroke treatments evaluated in laboratory rodents had substantial therapeutic benefits, virtually all failed in human trials2.
Indeed, in cancer research, only about 8% of successful animal trials make it to the clinic3.
Such a high failure rate, and the associated cost in time and money, make it understandable that the benefits of research with animals are under scrutiny.
The current leadership of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a stated goal of de-emphasizing the use of animal models in health-related research with the rationale that questions “the efficacy of translating the results of animal models to human diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and cancer”, arguing that, “These translational challenges to humans may be due to differences in anatomy, physiology, lifespan, and disease characteristics” (NIH news release, April 2025). This official statement was followed several months later with an announcement clarifying that the NIH “will no longer develop new funding opportunities focused exclusively on animal models of human disease” (NIH news release, July 2025).
It is true that therapeutic translation from laboratory mice — the mammalian workhorse for biomedical research — to humans for many age-related diseases has been poor. For instance, more than 300 interventions have shown some success at mitigating pathology or improving behavioral symptoms in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease, yet few have shown safety and efficacy in humans1. Similarly, although the majority of more than 1,000 acute stroke treatments evaluated in laboratory rodents had substantial therapeutic benefits, virtually all failed in human trials2. Indeed, in cancer research, only about 8% of successful animal trials make it to the clinic3. Such a high failure rate, and the associated cost in time and money, make it understandable that the benefits of research with animals are under scrutiny.
