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On Point | Podcast

Is animal testing even needed anymore?

On Point | Podcast

WBUR

Talk Show, Daily News, News, Npr, On Point, Daily

4.23.5K Ratings

🗓️ 4 June 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Running tests on lab rats, mice and other species is an integral part of biomedical research. Now, some say artificial intelligence and other technologies could soon make the practice obsolete.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Support for this podcast comes from Is Business Broken, a podcast from B.U.

0:04.9

Questrum School of Business.

0:06.6

What is short-termism?

0:08.2

Is it a buzzword or something that really impacts businesses in the economy?

0:13.2

Stick around until the end of this podcast for a preview of a recent episode.

0:19.0

WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

0:27.2

This is on point.

0:28.8

I'm Megna Chakrabardi.

0:30.4

In the 1930s, the S.E. Massengill Company of Bristol, Tennessee, had a problem.

0:37.0

They wanted to convert a pill into a

0:40.0

liquid, and they wanted to market that liquid as an elixir. Now, the pill was sulfonylamide, an active

0:47.0

ingredient that fought streptococcal infections. The liquid would make it easier to ingest. The only problem? It tasted terrible.

0:58.0

So the company added a bunch of stuff to make it more palatable, things like raspberry extract,

1:03.0

saccharine, and another sweet-tasting solvent called diethylene glycol.

1:10.0

Now, there's a good chance that you've smelled diethylene glycol before because it's more

1:16.6

commonly known as antifreeze.

1:20.9

Well, this elixir went on to kill more than 100 people, including more than 30 children.

1:26.2

And that disaster led to a pivotal law

1:29.9

passed in this country in 1938, one that has stood unchallenged for more than 80 years until

1:36.7

2022. Mr. President, I rise today to talk about a bill that would lift a mandate in the law dating back to the Great Depression.

1:47.1

So that was Kentucky Senator Republican Rand Paul in September of 2022, testifying in favor of the FDA Modernization Act 2.0.

1:57.9

Now, the specific mandate Senator Paul is referencing there is to the 1938 requirement

...

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