The issue I have with it is that we are talking about animal studies. And asking scientists to justify the use of male vs female mice sound like asking physicists to justify the choice between spherical and cubic cows. A point of using mice is that experiments can be done easily and cheaply before moving on to more detailed research using more varied, more expensive animals, ending up with humans.
Forcing scientists to compare male and female mice can lead to better research... on mice. But does it result in better research on humans is debatable (and debated in the paper I linked). After a quick read, what I find unfortunate is that the conclusion is supported more by political arguments than with hard data.
But who cares if it leads to better research.
The issue I have with it is that we are talking about animal studies. And asking scientists to justify the use of male vs female mice sound like asking physicists to justify the choice between spherical and cubic cows. A point of using mice is that experiments can be done easily and cheaply before moving on to more detailed research using more varied, more expensive animals, ending up with humans.
Forcing scientists to compare male and female mice can lead to better research... on mice. But does it result in better research on humans is debatable (and debated in the paper I linked). After a quick read, what I find unfortunate is that the conclusion is supported more by political arguments than with hard data.