Rats are important in medical tests OutlineAlmost all human disease-related genes have an equal counterpart in the composition of the rat (AnimalResearch). This allows the rat to be used in a variety of studies ranging from toxicology to genetics (rats!). The reason for the success of using rats in these fields is the equal genetic composition and how they behave towards external sources such as stress and toxins currently present in the body (rats!). This makes the independent variables less problematic because the rat will react to them in the same way a human would. The rat is an ideal choice in medical research due to its ideal genetic composition for testing cures for various diseases. The rat is a necessary component for medical testing and the advancement of medical science. “Living systems such as humans and animals are extremely complex. Studying cell cultures in a Petri dish, while sometimes useful, does not provide the opportunity to study interrelated processes occurring in the central nervous system, endocrine system, and immune system” (ProCon). Nothing compares to a real human body when it comes to medical research and experimentation, but rats offer humans a way to safely test experiments on a source that will produce nearly identical results. The rat has a cellular structure almost identical to that of humans, and the physiology of a rat is also very similar. The first of these studies, focusing on rat physiology, involved studying the effects of food and oxygen deprivation in rats and was highly successful (Animal Research). Subsequent medical advances through rat testing mean that the rat is among the 95% of animals most commonly used in animal testing. One of the m...... middle of the paper ..... International Library of Medicine. Network. 3 April 2014. "The laboratory mouse". LSSU School of Biological Sciences. Np, nd Web. 3 April 2014. .Phillips, Jacqueline, Alison Hogan, and Erin Lynch. “Animals in Research: Rats.” The conversation: n. page The conversation. Network. April 3, 2014. "Rat." Information on animal research. Np, nd Web. April 3, 2014. “Cancer Models in Rats.” National Cancer Institute. Np, nd Web. 3 April 2014. “Animals should be used for scientific or commercial testing.” ProCon. Np, nd Web. April 3. 2014. .