Is the use of sentient animals in basic research justifiable?

The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of sentient animals in basic research. (We realize humans are animals but will use the word animal to mean nonhuman animal in this review.) We ask the question, "Is the use of sentient animals in basic research justifiable?" The reason we ask the question this way is that there is evidence that society has decided that if sentient animals can be used to predict human response to drugs and disease, then using them is acceptable. However, such use is not scientifically tenable, as animals cannot predict human response [1-27]. (See references 1 and 2 for reviews that include the theory behind this position and the empirical evidence supporting it. See references 3-27 for analysis of selected examples. We fully understand the contentious nature of our statement that animals cannot predict human response to drugs and disease but our defense of that statement is in references 1 and 2, not in this paper.) As a result, the questions that arise are: "What of using sentient animals in research that is recognized as curiosity-driven rather than goal-oriented? What factors should be considered when using sentient animals in such an endeavour? What would an informed society think justifies the use of sentient animals in research in general?"In this essay, we show that: 1) basic research by definition is not designed to lead to cures; 2) in a vast majority of cases it does not; and 3) we show that society is not comfortable with this situation. We view this paper as a syllogism. IF society is not comfortable, or does not condone, using sentient animals in research that does not lead to cures and IF basic research is just that kind of research THEN society does not condone using sentient animals in basic research.If basic research is defined as research that is not designed to predict human response to drugs or disease and is curiosity-driven, then what is purpose of taking the readers' time to explore the use of sentient animals in