Should Animals Be Used for Scientific Research? Asking whether animals should be used in experimentation should involve understanding the whole process. Medical research involves the use of animals to conduct medical testing. Man has always been faced with the threat of death from diseases and natural causes.
The similarities between animals and humans in terms of bodily functions prove that animals are the closest substitute and the best option for medical testing. Many people believe that animal testing is both bad and good, but there is undoubtedly a very thin connection between right and wrong when animals are used for medical testing purposes. With the constant threat of deaths from illness, animals should be used as the principal source for discovering cures.
Using Animals for Medical Testing
The idea of using animals for medical testing started a long time ago; the ancients studied human diseases with animals. Many fundamental cell activities are the same in all animals; (breathing, sight, digestion, hearing, movement and reproduction) are similar. With animal studies, many disease causing agents were discovered as well as leading medical advancements such as surgeries and antisepsis. The advantages of animal medical experimentation have been widely acknowledged across Europe and the United States.
Our medical development would not be close to what we have today if it were not for scientific research on animals. We would not be able to perform the medical procedures that we can today or off all of the medicines we have now. Animals are used as substitutes to test viruses, diseases, medications that might affect human beings. It is true that animals and humans share a lot of illnesses, and as a result, animals can be used as models to research and find cures for human ailments. Mice and rats, especially, are widely used in experimentation.
While animals contribute to our understanding of diseases, animal studies allow researchers- to explore possible therapies in ways that (would be inconceivable) if they were conducted on humans. Studying how animals respond to different forms of diseases and medications has allowed for the progress of new treatments and technologies that are beneficial to humans. Most of the animals used for experimentation are bred in laboratories. These animals have never had contact with the outside world, so claiming it is (inhumane) so do testing on animals particularly unjustifiable in “Animals in Scientific Research”(Festing and Lovell).
The experiments are used for three basic fields; product security evaluation, education purposes and biomedical research. The champions of animal testing argue that if animal testing were made illegal, many of the procedures and medications that we have today would not exist and future treatments could not be developed.
They contend that humans have been helped from the healthcare developments found through animal research and testing. This research on animals is justified in that it has assisted in developing of open-heart surgery techniques, organ transplant, developing of vaccines against diseases like polio, rabies, measles, rubella, TB, and (mumps). Experimentation on animals has resulted in the development of antibiotics, cancer treatments, HIV/AIDS drugs, and insulin. Developing new healthcare advancement is the main purpose of animal testing.
Scientists for animal testing argue that some techniques would also not be advanced enough if not for the animal testing. The most innovative progresses in reproductive medicine, such as in vitro fertilization, oral contraceptives, and hormone replacement therapy, have been made possible by animal (testing).
Medical procedures like lung and heart machines and blood pressure measurements were first tested on animals. Surgical techniques such as eliminating and treating-bone diseases were devised after experimenting with animals. Animal experimentation has been beneficial to animals too. For instance, heartworm medication developed from research on animals has aided many dogs. Animals are much like humans in that they have illnesses. These include emphysema, diabetes, atherosclerosis, cataracts, birth defects, spinal bifida, and cancer.(Hawke)
Benefits of Animal Testing
Scientists have argued that the benefits of animal testing outweigh its disadvantages. Some communities around the world believe that using animals for testing is the only way for humans have better lives. Recent study showed that the animals used for scientific research are treated in a respectful way and properly handled in (in process of testing).
A survey by the American Medical Association indicated that 99% of the physicians in the United States believed that medical research on animals has given rise to new medicines, and 97% of them supported the idea of using animal testing in clinical and basic research. Scientists have discovered that are no significant differences in humans and lab animals preventing them from being used in tests. Through animal testing, a majority of people have gained hope of recovery and it’s has helped save so many deaths (Schwabe 24).
New medicines require testing because researchers must consider both the harmful and beneficial effects of a particular medicine on an animal. Medicines are routinely tested in vitro using isolated organs and tissues, but ethically and legally, it must be inoculated on a test animal before the drug can be manufactured and distributed for human use.
In conclusion, many people complain that animal testing is inhumane and unethical. Using animals in biomedical research for finding treatments and cures for human diseases or infections has always been considered a necessary evil. Most people argue that inducing suffering and pain on humans is very much wrong, many of. The same people agree that it is better to carry out medical research on animals than on humans, and that it is unethical to allow sick individuals to die because of the disagreement. Using animals for scientific research is a great way to acquire new findings in the medical field.
Humans are always in search of advancements and innovation in medicine to match the complexity of various illnesses. With increasing populations, animals are our last option for the discovery of new cures for the thousands of medical ailments in the world today. Without animals testing, the current medical advancement level would be reduced, and the process would drag. There is a shared perception that there is a necessitate to use animal testing in medical research to discover more cures.
