Budgets can be high with animal experiments. This has to do with how time and labor intensive the studies are, resources needed for animal care, long-term nature of the studies (if applicable), material and equipment costs, and compliance with regulations. Considering this, it is not worth shortening the time frame with the consequence of increasing risk. A failed study can harm the development process, with there being a need to pinpoint the source of failure, address this source of failure, and then re-do the animal experiment itself. Given the high budget of the experiment, this can prove incredibly harmful to the future outlook of the project. Of course, this is in consideration of there being no mitigation of risk in response to the shortened timeline. From my co-op experience, I have learned that studying of cells and tissues via in vitro methods prior to an animal study to solidify expected data can help mitigate risks related to animal experiments. Considering this, if faced with the need to shorten the time frame and accept the risk of failure in the animal experimental study, what methods would you use to mitigate risk? Would you do so via addressing aspects of the animal study itself (such as procedure or animal used), or would there be a more external solution?

I agree with the points raised about the long-term consequences of rushing through experimentation, especially when it comes to medical devices where safety and effectiveness are importanst. Cutting corners in the short term can easily backfire if the data isn't strong enough to support regulatory approval or if key design flaws go unnoticed. That said, I think it’s also important to acknowledge that in real-world scenarios, time and budget constraints are very real pressures. It seems like the best approach might be to focus on streamlining planning and communication early in the project so that experiments are well-designed from the start and delays can be minimized without sacrificing quality. It’s definitely a tough balance to strike but I think that thoughtful risk assessment can go a long way in deciding when a time tradeoff is acceptable.