What Will We Do If We Don't Experiment On Animals? Medical Research for the Twenty-first Century

About the Book

Drs. Greek have written 2 books on why using animals as models for humans is not the best way to conduct medical research and drug testing. During their lectures and debates, the most commonly asked question was, "Well. What will we use if we don't use animals?" What Will We Do If We Don't Experiment On Animals? Medical Research for the Twenty-first Century is the answer to that question. Drs. Greek explain briefly why one species cannot predict drug response for another and describe what research and testing methods should be used today instead of animals. They also describe where our biomedical research dollars should be spent if we are to have cures for cancer, AIDS, and Alzheimer's. This book will appeal to science-trained and general audiences, animal lovers and science readers, public policy analysts, students, patients and patient support groups, and government watchdog groups. What Will We Do If We Don't Experiment On Animals? Medical Research for the Twenty-first Century takes medical research out of the nineteenth and into the 21st century.

About the Author

Jean Swingle Greek, DVM is a board-certified veterinary dermatologist. In addition to a full-time veterinary dermatology practice, she writes and conducts research.
C. Ray Greek, MD is president of Americans For Medical Advancement, Medical Director of Europeans For Medical Advancement, and Science Advisor to the National Anti-Vivisection Society.

Dr. Ray Greek is a physician who has published in the lay and medical literature (see attached for examples) and performed experiments on animals and research with humans. He has taught at two US medicals schools: the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He is the most knowledgeable expert in the world today in the field of using animals to model human conditions.

Drs. Greek have written 2 books on the scientific fallacy of attempting to extrapolate the results of animal experiments to humans. Jane Goodall wrote the foreword to Sacred Cows and Golden Geese: The Human Cost of Experiments on Animals (Continuum 2000), which was, in essence, sparked by a family squabble. Jean Swingle Greek, just beginning her clinical rotations at the University of Wisconsin at Madison veterinary school, would often come home with questions about how to treat certain cases. Her husband, Ray Greek, who was at the time teaching medicine at the University, would reply with the correct answer as it applied to humans. But, in almost all cases, what cured a human didn't work on the animals, and vice-versa.

This led the Drs. Greek to spend a decade studying comparative anatomy and physiology, reviewing treatment notes, and perusing scientific literature as well as medical history books. Jean's expertise in animal anatomy, physiology and biochemistry, combined with Ray's expertise in the same for humans, allowed this husband/wife team to examine the similarities and differences between the species with greater depth. Their work resulted in Sacred Cows and Golden Geese a book that focuses solely on the science of this hotly debated topic. Drs. Greek have also written Specious Science (Continuum 2002). Dr. Ray Greek and Niall Shanks have written Animal Models in Light of Science (Rodopi Publishing scheduled for 2005).

Drs. Greek have shown not only that animal experiments are unnecessary, but also that they have resulted in both direct and indirect harm to humans. Thus these expensive and unreliable animal models have been harmful to humans. They effectively argue that the money currently going to fund animal experiments should be designated for other historically more productive and scientific means of health/biomedical research.

Dr. Ray Greek is president of Americans For Medical Advancement and Europeans For Medical Advancement, not-for-profit organizations dedicated to educating the public about the hazards of exptrapolating the results of experiments on animal models to humans. All proceeds from the books go to AFMA (www.curedisease.com).

Dr. Greek appears regularly in the media. He has been on the major television networks in the USA, Europe and Australia. He lectures and debates in the US and Europe, frequently gives radio interviews and is featured in print media. He has had numerous op-ed pieces, letters and articles published.

He participates in debates with those in the animal model industry at university campuses and medical schools. In 2003, he participated in debates at the Liberal Democratic and Labour Party conventions in the UK and will be speaking at the Green Pary convention in 2004. He appears frequently on the BBC TV and radio.