Question: do you test the reaction of drugs on animals?

Emma Cahill answered on 13 Nov 2013:

Hi there, yes I test how addictive drugs like cocaine or drugs made by companies effect how the animal behaves. We have to do this so we can understand why people become addicted to drugs. For example, cocaine causes mice to run around a lot and they will develop “craving like” behavior, just like humans. We call them an “animal model” that we can compare to a human disease or disorder. Mice are very commonly used because we know so much about their genetics and behavior, I have also used rats before which you might be suprised to know are a lot more smart than mice!