In Reply.—
I appreciate the letters by Dr Friedman and Dr Llaurado and respect their points of view.The Medical Research Modernization Committee, of which I am a chairman, does not take an either/or position on animal research or the use of animals in medical school teaching. We desire, however, to see that animal research and experimentation is updated and supplanted where feasible by modern methods using, for example, cell cultures; tissue cultures; organ cultures; human volunteers; data banks; dummies; audiovisual aids; computer and mathematical models; microorganisms; clinical and epidemiologic studies; computed tomographic, positron emission tomographic, and nuclear magnetic resonance scans; and ultrasonography.Obviously, results obtained using animals are not directly applicable to humans. Modern advances make it possible to study human tissues, organs, and volunteers directly, and we favor this.Partly as a result of our efforts, the Environmental Protection Agency issued new guidelines (New York Times, Aug 30,