I am having difficulty which is understood... on obtaining research for any topic that includes information obtained from animal studies, in vivo. Some have been done on mammals such as with the blood brain barrier. I don't prefer the testing of animals but am not sure if I can avoid studies on animals other than on humans. It is difficult to find studies on humans. Autopsy would be in vitro? Also, there can be ethical issues with studies on humans. Can I write a scholarly article with animal studies? I know that people do but, given that their are ethical implications for all animal studies including with humans I am not sure how to cite research. What do you recommend? What are the expectations for research citations for the research paper due? Many thanks! p.s. I enjoy and respect the challenge just not sure how to obtain research. Many thanks!

David said: ...Autopsy would be in vitro? No, but it is not a living organism either, more like ex vivo. ...Also, there can be ethical issues with studies on humans. Can I write a scholarly article with animal studies? The problem with animal research is that it does not always translate into valid data for humans. for instance Thalidomide was tested in rats and had no adverse effects but certainly did in humans. Also mouse models of Alzheimers do not accuratelyy reflect the disease in humans. I think animal research can be used to support traditional use, but unless it is dog or pig research (most of what works on these species also works in humans), animal research alone is not evidence of bioequivalence in humans. ...What are the expectations for research citations for the research paper due? It depends on what the paper is looking at. If it is a science-based look at a topic, then human research would be the most appropriate information. Some areas of research have a lot of human data, other areas none.

Hello David, Thankyou for the answers they are very helpful. I did not know about dog and pig research being potentially useful for equivalence to humans depending on studies. I am studying the blood brain barrier function and dysfunction and possible remediation of function or repair of the BBB.