What would the world be like if there was no vaccine for polio? If there was no discovery of insulin? Thanks to animal research we don’t have to live without vaccines or insulin. Animal research is a topic debated everyday around the world. Some argue it is cruel to put animals through experiments that animals have no voice in what is being done to them. Others argue that animal testing is good because it collects a lot of information and helps with surgical techniques. I believe that without animal testing we would never know what we know now. Animal testing for medical research is necessary if there are no other alternatives because it allows for advances in medicine, provides treatments for people with diseases, it eliminates human suffering, and it also has helped treat diseases in animals. (Animal Research 2013) Why do we have to use animals for research? Many humans and animals get the same illnesses because animals are biologically similar to humans. Animals have a shorter life cycle than humans and as a result, they can be studied throughout their whole life span or across several generations. According to information from the Office of Technology Assessment, it is estimated that between 17 and 23 million animals are used in research each year. Approximately 95% of these animals are rats and mice specifically bred for research and 4.25% of these animals include rabbits, guinea pigs, sheep, fish, frogs, insects, and other species. Most importantly, only 0.75% of the animals in research are cats, dogs, and primates. Major medical advances have been made because of the research of these animals. (Animal Research 2013) The spread of aids threatens our population daily. Lives lost to it number over 12 million, including 2 mil... ... middle of paper ... ... Opposes Animal Research. Retrieved October 23, 2013, from http://physicianscam.com/articles/research.cfm US Statistics. (n.d.). Speaking of Research. Retrieved October 23, 2013, from http://speakingofresearch.com/facts/statistics/ What Is Polio? What Causes Polio?. (n.d.). Medical News Today. Retrieved October 23, 2013, from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/ What is Cardiovascular Disease (Heart Disease)?. (n.d.). What is Cardiovascular Disease (Heart Disease)?. Retrieved October 23, 2013, from http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Caregiver/Resources/WhatisCardiovascularDisease/What-is-Cardiovascular-Disease_UCM_301852_Article.jsp What is IACUC - Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee - OU Norman Campus. (n.d.). What is IACUC - Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee - OU Norman Campus. Retrieved October 23, 2013, from http://iacuc.ou.edu/whatisiacuc.asp
Without animal research, cures for such diseases as typhoid, diphtheria, and polio might never have existed. Without animal research, the development of antibiotics and insulin would have been delayed. Without animal research, many human beings would now be dead. However, because of animal testing, 200,000 dogs, 50,000 cats, 60,000 primates, 1.5 million hamsters, and uncounted millions of rats and mice are experimented upon and die each year, as living fodder for the great human scientific machine. Some would say that animal research is an integral part of progress; unfortunately, this is often true. On the whole, animal testing is a necessary evil that should be reduced and eliminated whenever possible.
The information that animals have provided scientists over the past decades has changed society, and is still changing society for the better. Millions of lives have been saved with the use of animal testing and many more will be saved with continued research. However, there are many who dismiss this monumental achievement completely and oppose the use of animals in laboratory research. Though many find this practice to be
Over 100 Million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned and abused in testing Labs every year. Animals are used to test the safety of products, advance scientific research, and develop models to study disease and to develop new medical treatments all for the sake of mankind. Animals should not be used for scientific research because animal testing is inhumane, other testing methods now exist, and animals are very different from human beings.
League, Animal Defense. “Policy Statement on Animal Research.” Civil Rights in America. Woodbridge, CT: Primary Source Media, 1999. American Journey.Student Resources in Context. Web. 6 Feb. 2014.
"What Is Cystic Fibrosis?" - NHLBI, NIH. National Institutes of Health, 26 Dec. 2013. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.
According to several studies, animals have played a crucial role in medical advancement over the last century. The article “Alas, Animal Experiments are Still Needed,” explains that animals have been used for testing the safety of drugs and vaccines from common pain-killers to anti-cancer treatment. The article points out, “They may not be perfect and human trials are also vital, but without animals medical advances would seriously be hampered” (qtd. in “Alas” P2). The article suggests that animals are crucial to medical research because they test the safety of a drug. While it may be true that animals play a vital role in experiments, in reality, some animals do not get a second chance to live and have fun because if they are harmed, recovery takes time and is not guaranteed. The website People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) explains that nine out of ten (92%) drugs and vaccines that are tested on animals work for them, yet fail in human clinical trials. The author mentions, “They argue the potential benefits ...
"HIV & Animal Testing." HIV and AIDS Information and Resources. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
The entire human race benefits from animal research. “Without animal research, medical science would come to a total standstill”(O’Neil 210). It is not as if scientists and researchers just sit in their labs all day and torture animals for fun. Not to mention animal use is being reduced as much as possible, “most scientists are glad to use alternative tests because they are usually faster and cheaper than tests on animals”(Yount 72). However, “you cannot study kidney transplantation or diarrhea or high blood pressure on a computer screen”(O’Neil 212).
Research on animals is a vital process to stem cell research and other research in medicine. Animals can be used by scientist for research as long as it does not harm or kill an animal. Over the years animals have been experimented on for research and have contributed greatly to medicine. However, if animals are continuously killed for trial and error than that suggests animal cruelty.
Should cats and dogs be used in biomedical research? Biomedical research provides valuable knowledge on how humans and animals behave, develop and function biologically. Through careful experimentation by several scientists we discover new therapies and medicines, carefully developed and evaluated, to prevent and treat diseases that cause illness in mammals. It is estimated 50-100million animals are used in research every year.
The AIDS virus is the most common disease, and with no cure, an infected person will die. It is estimated that 90 to 95 percent of AIDS infections occur in developing countries where the world’s worst living conditions exist.
Animal testing is bad science. According to the food and drug administration ,ninety two percent of drugs that are passed due to animal testing fail humans. And the eight percent that are passed are taken off the market soon after the drug is shown to have harmful effects on humans. The results of animal studies are also typically misleading. Most human diseases don't occur in animals, so they are simulated without things like environment and lifestyle taken into account. In addition,scientists have also built humane, modern, and effective non animal research methods. For example, using specialized computer programs , combined with human cells and tissues deliver exact results as opposed to animal testing(Gericke). We also have made many advances in medicine without animal testing. For example, the cure for Scurvy was discovered without animal testing and Penicillin was also discovered without animal testing.These facts have overshadowed the claim that animals serve as good models of the human body .
The deployment of animals for medical research has brought heated debates from both the proponents and opponents each holding to their views in a tight manner. Those who are in support of animal research argue that it has been constituting a vital element in the advancement of medical sciences throughout the world providing insights to various diseases, which have helped in the discovery and development of various medicines that have brought an improvement in the qualify of living of people. Such discoveries have gone so deep that but for them many would have died a premature death because no cure would have been found for the diseases that they were otherwise suffering. On the other hand, animal lovers and animal right extremists hold to the view that animal experimentation is not only necessary but also Cruel. Human kind is subjecting them to such cruelties because they are helpless and even assuming such experiments do bring in benefits, the inhuman treatment meted out to them is simply not worth such benefits. They would like measures, including enactment of legislations to put an end to using animals by the name of research. This paper takes the view there are merits in either of the arguments and takes the stand a balanced approach needs to be taken on the issue so that both the medical science does not suffer, and the animal lovers are pacified, even if not totally satisfied. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: The next section discusses both the sides by taking account the view of scholars and practitioners and the subsequent section concludes the paper by drawing vital points from the previous section to justify the stand taken in this paper....
Throughout the years animal rights groups and organizations have frowned upon animal experiments. Animal testing has been thought to be inhumane and cold-hearted to animals. Because of these accusations medical researchers have to suffer threats from individuals and the media. If animal testing weren’t allowed would that be a drawback in advancement in medical research? Animal testing is beneficial to people because these trails lead to improvements in medical research. Animal experiments have led to finding new cures and vaccines to fatal illnesses. Because animal experiments are helpful in making vaccines to prevent these sicknesses, these trails are the reason so many lives are saved. Animal testing is very necessary and useful to people, but animal rights groups believe that these trails doesn’t benefit humanity. According to Ellen Paul, “Breakthroughs in treating injuries, like practically all medical advances, depend upon experimentation on animals.” Animal experiments have given way to many new instruments to fight against diseases like cancer (Paul). For example, mice and other rodents contributed to scientists developing new tools for fighting different forms of cancers (Paul). Animal testing has helped science in many ways, but animal organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) believe that these experiments are cruel to animals. Even though most animals endure some sort of pain during these experiments, the results are very beneficial to people.
There is more than enough data that shows the extent to which AIDS cripples millions of individuals and households around the globe. Also, there are verified methods we can take to address this pandemic. We, as citizens of the world, need to recognize the severity of this problem and take action. Those in power must better distribute resources so that more is spent on saving the families and lives of AIDS stricken patients.