Alzheimer’s Disease Research Without Animals
A Shift Toward Human-Relevant Alzheimer’s Research
A staggering 99.6 percent of Alzheimer’s disease drugs that succeed in animal experiments fail in humans. A transition to human-relevant research methods may help lead to the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer's disease and related dementias have a devastating impact on individuals and society. Decades of basic research, drug development, and clinical trials based largely on animal modeling have repeatedly failed to translate into effective interventions. There are still no treatments that can prevent the development of the disease or even substantially slow the rate of cognitive decline.
Physicians Committee scientists are advocating for the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies, as well as scientists involved in Alzheimer’s research, to expand and integrate human-based methods such as stem cell technologies, lifestyle interventions, and human tissue studies, to help produce a meaningful treatment or cure.
These human-relevant methods could transform Alzheimer's research:
Alzheimer’s-in-a-Dish
Brain-on-a-Chip
Neuroimaging
Patient-Derived Samples
Clinical Trials
Find Out About a 3D Alzheimer’s Disease Model
This model halted inflammation associated with Alzheimer's.
In most cases, scientists ‘engineer’ one or several genetic risk factors in animals and then ‘fix’ the artificially created disorder. However, these ‘fixes’ have not translated to functional improvements in humans with Alzheimer’s.
Ann Lam, PhD, Medical Research Program Director, Physicians Committee
Further Reading
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