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How have animal experiments contributed to the development of vaccines, insulin, antibiotics, and anesthetics?

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Three PETA protesters in animal masks and green clothing hold signs reading No Fur at a demonstration against fur in clothing at a shopping district in Seoul, South Korea. — Animal rights A PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) demonstration in Seoul, South Korea, against the use of animals for fur in clothing.

Animal experimentation has played a foundational role in the development of modern medical treatments, including vaccines, insulin, antibiotics, and anesthetics.1

Insulin: The discovery of insulin was significantly advanced by research on dogs. In 1889, researchers demonstrated that removing a dog's pancreas induced symptoms similar to human diabetes. Later, in 1921, scientists successfully extracted a substance from the pancreases of dogs that lowered blood glucose levels in diabetic animals, leading to the first successful human treatment in 1922.23
Vaccines: Animal models are used to ensure vaccine safety and efficacy, particularly to prevent "vaccine enhancement," where a vaccine might inadvertently worsen a disease. Testing on animals is considered essential by many researchers to mitigate such risks before human trials.4
Antibiotics and Anesthetics: These medical breakthroughs emerged from long-standing traditions of biomedical research using animals to study physiology and drug effects. Animal testing has been instrumental in refining these treatments, ensuring they are safe and effective for clinical use.14

While these contributions are significant, the practice remains a subject of intense ethical debate regarding the welfare of sentient beings and the necessity of animal models versus alternative methods.1