I think the most recent way that researchers are trying to solve the ethical dilemma of animal testing is through the advent of artificially constructed tissue. While not perfect, many advances have been made in developing artificial tissue that can be used as biological models for pre-clinical testing. These involve muscle tissues, bone tissue, and even in some cases entire organs! If these models are able to accurately and effectively model biological behavior, then the ethical dilemma behind using animal models will be merely a question of the past. However, although many advances have been made in the field of artificial tissue synthesis, it is still very hard to create a man-made material that can 100% replicate a biological material. Do you think artificial tissue will ever be of high enough quality to where we can completely eliminate using animal models?

Balancing both insight from research and the testing method ethics is a complex challenge that every researcher in both academia and industry has to maneuver to maintain both scientific rigor and get their study to be approved and provide significant results.

The thing is, there are already a lot of strict regulations against running studies and data collection. There are IRB boards for each university and there a lot of rules that need to be adhered to and documents that need to be submitted to get approval from this board. There are also rules for publication of a study from the journal for accurate data collection and presentation. There are also Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) that oversee the ethics behind using animals and humans in research. 

Overall, I think we have established a rigor enough regulatory rules for research on humans and animals. Making it to hard to get approved would lead to less innovation and research. 

During my undergraduate studies, I did research in a brain trauma lab where we primarily used mice and rats. For every test we wanted to run, whether it involved administering substances or inflicting injury, we had to write and submit a detailed protocol. This protocol would specify exact quantities of substances or materials that would be used and outlined any potential risks of the experiment. We then had to wait to that protocol to be approved by IACUC, as noted by @atk27@njit-edu, before we were able to perform the procedure.

In addition to protocol approval, all lab members were required to go through various trainings, ensuring we did not exceed ethical or safety limits. While mistakes happen in experimentation, too many incidents could raise suspicion of malpractice. In our case, the IACUC monitored any incidents that occurred, and excessive issues could result in the lab being placed under review or even shut down.

While animal testing is an integral part of scientific advancement, there are ongoing efforts to reduce the reliance on it. For instance, the development of alternative models, like lab-on-a-chip technologies and cell-cultures, offers potential for achieving similar results without using live animals. Additionally, computer models are becoming more sophisticated, providing another option for reducing the need for animal subjects while maintaining the importance of pre-clinical research. Combining these innovations with the proper oversight can help ensure we continue to make progress in addressing the ethical concerns surrounding animal testing in medical research.

The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) exists to achieve the balance between necessary, safe animal testing and maintaining animal welfare, minimizing the use of animals in pre-clinical trials when possible. Although the IACUCs have federally required guidelines that all animal-related research must adhere to in order to support this balance, there are still alternatives to animal testing that can remove the need for the IACUCs all together. Cell culturing offers a promising solution for pre-clinical researchers, which many view as a method that upholds animal ethics. Although cell culturing significantly reduces the number of animals involved in testing and eliminates the use of live animals, animals must still be sacrificed to acquire the cells. Hopefully in the future, computer simulation for pre-clinical trials will be advanced enough to entirely replace the need for animal testing in pre-clinical trials. 

I'm actually quite surprised that no responses have brought up bioreactors yet. Yes, it is true that the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IUCUC) have set up a system to make animal testing the most ethical it can be, but the true best answer to the ethical problems in animal testing is to stop using animals. Bioreactors show much promise in replacing animal testing. A bioreactor provides a controlled environment for biological materials to grow or react in a way that mimics the physiological conditions of the human body. Though it would take an extremely intricate bioreactor to replicate the full bodily environment of a living being, I think there is no limit to what can be developed in this area. Bioreactors today are able to replicate specific processes within living beings for reliable in vitro tests. In many cases, testing within the immediate environment that a biomaterial will be implanted into is enough to validate safety and efficacy. Scientific experimentation within biological environments is crucial to the advancement of modern medicine, and the use of bioreactors would address all the ethical concerns around using animal subjects. 

Finding balance between research and ethics is an extremely important aspect of designing a study. There are strict guidelines governing when it is allowable to use animals in research. As a general rule, animal testing should always be considered as a last resort in research, when there is a high level of confidence that the animal will not be harmed or have a life wasted. With recent advances, there are ways now to mimic humans that do not involve using animals in research. The first step should be computer modeling and simulation, which can provide insight into human behavior.  There are also ways to use human tissue to see how drugs/devices would cause it to react and test for biocompatibility without harming anyone. Overall, the use of animals should be avoided if at all possible. There are safer and more ethical alternatives that exist. When the use of animals is absolutely needed, scientists should be mindful of using the lowest number of animals that they can for their study and ensuring that they are properly cared for throughout the course of the study to avoid animal suffering as much as possible.