Tech for good - the death of animal testing? Tech advances might render it obsolete

Many of the medicines in our cupboards and products on our shelves today are tested on animals before they are released to market. But the reality is, most of these tests are a waste of time. More than 92% of drugs that show promise in animal tests go on to fail in clinical trials – not great for us humans, and certainly not great for the animals involved.

It's a widespread practice. For example, in labs and research centers up and down Britain, 2.64 million tests were carried out on animals in 2024. The majority of these tests were on mice, fish, and birds, but some involved cats, dogs, and horses. These tests were undertaken for a variety of purposes, including basic research, safety tests, education, and also breeding animals for use in experimental procedures.

While the latest UK Government report into animal testing was keen to highlight a ...