How Animals Have Helped Create Life-Saving Medicines and Treatments

When people talk about medical breakthroughs, it’s easy to focus on the brilliant scientists, cutting-edge technology, and long clinical trials. But what often gets overlooked is the essential role that animals have played—and continue to play—in advancing modern medicine. Without their contribution, many of the medications and treatments we take for granted simply wouldn’t exist.

Animal research isn’t about cruelty or unnecessary harm. It’s about responsible, regulated science that has directly led to countless human lives saved, diseases cured, and suffering alleviated. Here’s a closer look at how animals have made life-saving medicines and treatments possible.

Insulin and the Fight Against Diabetes

One of the clearest examples is insulin. Before 1921, a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes was a death sentence. But thanks to experiments conducted using dogs, researchers Frederick Banting and Charles Best were able to isolate insulin from the pancreas.

Their work led to the first successful insulin treatment in humans in 1922, transforming diabetes from a fatal disease into a manageable condition. Millions of people with diabetes today owe their lives to early canine research that paved the way for safe, effective insulin therapies.

Vaccines That Changed the World

Animal studies were critical in the development of vaccines we now consider routine—and essential.

• Polio vaccine: Dr. Jonas Salk tested his pioneering vaccine on monkeys and mice before moving to human trials. Without the knowledge gained from animal studies, the world would not have been able to eradicate polio in most countries.
• Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine: Research with monkeys played a key role in creating the MMR vaccine, which has saved millions of lives and prevented devastating complications like encephalitis and congenital disabilities.
• COVID-19 vaccines: The rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines in 2020–2021 also depended on animal models, including mice, hamsters, ferrets, and primates, to test immune responses and safety before human clinical trials could even begin.

Without animals, vaccine science would be decades behind where it is now—and countless more people would have died from preventable diseases.

Heart Surgery and Cardiovascular Advances

Modern heart surgery owes a huge debt to dogs and pigs, whose cardiovascular systems provided early models for researchers to study. The first successful heart valve replacements and coronary bypass surgeries were perfected in animals before they could be safely performed in people.

Pacemakers, stents, artificial heart valves, and defibrillators—all life-saving devices we now rely on—were developed with the help of animal studies. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S., and millions of lives have been extended or improved thanks to these innovations.

Cancer Treatments

Although cancer is devastating, survival rates for many types have risen sharply over the past few decades. Part of that success is due to chemotherapy drugs, radiation therapies, and immunotherapies that were first tested in animals.

• Mouse models have been especially important for understanding tumor growth, metastasis, and how different treatments interact with cancer cells.
• Newer approaches, like CAR T-cell therapy (a groundbreaking immunotherapy for certain blood cancers), were developed and refined through animal studies before human application.

Without animal contributions, many of the world’s most effective cancer treatments would not yet exist—or would be far less advanced.

Organ Transplants

Organ transplantation used to be little more than a fantasy. Today, thousands of people each year receive life-saving organ transplants thanks to medical advances built on decades of research involving animals.

• Kidney transplantation: Early research in dogs demonstrated that organ grafts could be successful under certain conditions.
• Heart and liver transplants: Studies in pigs and primates helped refine surgical techniques and understand immune rejection, leading to the anti-rejection drugs we depend on today.

Even xenotransplantation—transplanting animal organs into humans—is now being actively researched, including recent progress with genetically modified pig organs as a potential solution to the human organ shortage crisis.

Treatments for Blood Disorders

Hemophilia and other blood-clotting disorders used to mean a lifetime of danger and early death. Thanks to research in dogs with naturally occurring hemophilia, scientists developed clotting factor concentrates and other treatments that allow patients today to live long, relatively normal lives.

These advances not only improved patient outcomes dramatically but also informed broader blood transfusion safety practices for surgeries and trauma care.

Anesthesia and Pain Management

The safe use of anesthesia in surgery is something we take for granted—but it wasn’t always so. Animal studies, particularly in dogs, helped researchers discover how anesthetics affect the body, how to dose them safely, and how to monitor for side effects.

Pain management, from epidurals during childbirth to post-surgical opioid use, also stems from work originally validated through animal models. Without that foundation, even routine surgeries would still carry massive risks.

Understanding the Brain and Treating Mental Illness

Modern treatments for depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and epilepsy were heavily informed by studies in rats, mice, and monkeys. Basic research into neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine would not have been possible without studying animal brains first.

Medications like antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs, and antipsychotics were carefully developed after understanding how they affected brain chemistry in animals—long before they were tested in humans.

Even non-invasive brain treatments today, such as deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease and depression, were pioneered through animal research.

Surgical Techniques and Safety

Beyond specific drugs, countless surgical procedures—from repairing torn ACLs to removing tumors—were first perfected in animal models. Learning how to perform complex surgeries safely, prevent infections, and manage bleeding relied on observing biological systems in living animals.

Today’s patients benefit from minimally invasive techniques, robotic surgery, and faster recovery times because these innovations were made possible through early trials that involved animals.

Opossum Compound Breakthrough Could Revolutionize Snakebite Antivenom Production

In an exciting development, scientists have harnessed a compound from opossums to create a promising new pathway for snakebite treatment. This natural protein, known for its ability to neutralize venom, has now been successfully replicated using genetically engineered E. coli bacteria—potentially slashing the cost and increasing the availability of lifesaving antivenom. 

Snakebites kill tens of thousands of people each year, primarily in low-income regions where access to treatment is limited. This biotechnological breakthrough could make effective antivenom far more affordable and accessible worldwide.

A Legacy of Life-Saving Partnership

It’s not comfortable for everyone to think about, but it’s the truth: without animals, modern medicine as we know it wouldn’t exist. From insulin to vaccines, heart surgery to cancer treatments, animals have played a critical role at every stage of discovery.

This isn’t about minimizing their sacrifice—it’s about recognizing that when medical research is conducted responsibly and ethically, animals help extend and improve millions of human lives. They are an irreplaceable part of medical history and remain a vital part of future breakthroughs. Science owes them gratitude, careful stewardship, and the continued pursuit of better, more humane research practices where necessary.

Human health will always require bold, brave steps forward—and animals have walked alongside us through every one.