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Some of the greatest challenges to eradicating disease and improving the lives of millions of people worldwide still lie ahead of us in treating illnesses such as diabetes, depression, Parkinson's disease, birth defects and heart disease. Columbia scientists focus much of their animal-based research in these areas and do so with compassion and the utmost care for the animals involved.
Studies involving animals have been and will continue to be an important part of the biomedical research that has allowed millions of patients to be free of disease and suffering. Even so, scientists continue to develop new methods of research that involve fewer animals and look forward to a time when animal research may not be necessary.
Examples of the many significant areas of biomedical research at Columbia University include:
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“Animal models make it possible for us to study how these neurons slowly die in Parkinson’s, in ways that are technically impossible in living human brains. Animals are necessary because while tissue cultures are important to the research, ultimately these mechanisms are simply not represented by cultures. Additionally, neural systems are completely beyond what our best computers are capable of doing today— each neuron has interactions with billions of other neurons and computers do not yet provide adequate modeling of these complexities.”
Dr. Robert E. Burke
the Alfred and Minnie Bressler Professor of Neurology (in Pathology) and Director of the Laboratory for Research in Parkinson’s Disease and Related Disorders at Columbia University |
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