It is flatly wrong to conduct research (or any form of profiteering) that requires humans or machines to torture other living beings.

There can never be sufficient justification for these acts, for the simple reason that they change what it means to be human, for all human beings, in a way that is egregious, toxic, shaming, and horrific. They comprise crimes against the nature of humanity and Life.

Knowledge (or wealth of any form) gained from torture must be understood to be egregiously toxic, regardless of its seeming utility.