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Lab rats versus other animals...?
This is a complicated question, so allow me to explain..... Scientists use lab rats to determine what medicines or products are safe for human use. However, items like chocolate or onions are harmful to dogs, but don't harm us. Even human medicines can be harmful or have adverse affects on dogs. So in medicines and products, why do we rely on how the product affects rats when other products that are safe for us to use harm other animals, like dogs? Are rats more anatomically similar to humans or what?
1 Answer
- Weise EnteLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
All mammals (including dogs) have very similar metabolisms.
Rodents are used since they are small, well studied and easy to work with.They make a good model, but they aren't perfect. Many things hazardous to mice have not yet been shown to cause any effect in humans and vice versa, However, these are in the vast minority, and unless you want to test on humans, they are the best thing available.
