Ending federally funded animal testing could stall xenotransplantation breakthroughs

Transplant surgeon Joshua Mezrich argues that recent moves to end federally funded animal testing could impede the development of xenotransplantation, a field that aims to use pig organs for human patients.

Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called for a complete ban on federal animal experiments, claiming that animal models poorly predict human health outcomes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is already phasing out primate studies and relocating animals to sanctuaries, while the National Institutes of Health has stopped issuing funding opportunities that focus solely on animal models and has closed one of its eight National Primate Research Centers.

Mezrich warns that these policy shifts risk delaying clinical trials that could transform lives, as the scientific community still relies on animal data to move pig organ transplants toward human use.