It’s important to acknowledge & work to address the bioethical, reproducibility, and translational challenges of animal research. Below are some tools and strategies we think can help:
1. When designing (or reviewing) an experiment ask yourself if the research is suitable (i.e., it is scientifically valid and follows the 3Vs: construct, internal, & external validity), necessary (i.e., there are no alternatively methods and the 3Rs have been implemented) and overall reasonable (the potential benefits to society outweigh the harms to the animals; Eggel & Würbel, 2020)
For further reading, see the article, “Bioethical, reproducibility, and translational challenges of animal models” by Landi et al. 2021.