Whilst this is quite interesting, I struggle to see how the animal suffering and the human brainpower + effort + resources required to do this work is justified..
Yes, indeed, reads to me like some Clockwork Orange-ish nightmare. We should do better than experiment on animals; it is cruel to expose anyone to so much suffering: https://theintercept.com/2018/05/17/inside-the-barbaric-u-s-...
I’m pretty sure there was a time when improving steam engines was more “justifiable” than figuring out how to make internal combustion engines too.
Or breeding stronger horses instead of researching steam engines.
So no, that’s not how science works.