Study design
Animal model
Research using animals to explore disease biology or treatment effects before human evidence exists.
What it means
Definition
Animal model. Animal models can provide important early evidence, but species differences, dosing and artificial disease models limit direct translation to people. Human claims need human evidence.
What it can tell you
It can show how close the evidence is to a real human health outcome.
What it cannot tell you
It cannot prove that a treatment works in people unless human outcome data are available.
Headline trap
Why this matters in headlines
A treatment that works in animals may fail in human trials.