Biomedical research makes extensive use of animals even though it is frequently extremely cruel. The book examines the history of animal research, how it arose in antiquity and the history of the animal welfare movement that opposes animal research. The book asks several important questions about animal research including whether it is really effective in today’s world, whether it is ethical and whether it is necessary in the face of many current technological developments. The book discusses how modern research technologies such as human stem cell research is rapidly making animal research obsolete.