Animal Experimentation And The Human Understanding Of Medicine

As of 2015, 200 to 225 million animals are said to used in laboratory research for the biomedical industry annually worldwide. Typically defended by arguments of reliability and human health benefits, recently the question of ethics and values placed on animal testing have caused it to become a relevant and pressing topic that has been more widely discussed and debated. First off, the laboratory conditions that are instigated upon millions of animal models for the sake of medical research has been said to be unethical and cruel. Additionally, it has been debated that the results of animal experimentation are unreliable across a wide range of areas. Lastly, animal testing not only leads away from the direction of resources from more effective testing methods but also prolongs the duration of time humans may need to wait for an effective cure. Therefore, the potential benefits of animal experimentation are greatly outweighed by the risks and collective harm of humans and animals which is why resources should be directed towards more human-based testing procedures.

Around the world, millions of scientists conduct their studies by testing their research on animals. Many people believe that experimenting on animals is crucial to the advancement of medical discoveries. Studies show however, that animal experimentation is brutal and unnecessary. There are alternatives though: “replacement, reduction, and refinement” (Howard 2).

Throughout the years the use of animals in medical research has been a hot debate around the world. Although animal testing may be cruel and inhumane, thousands of humans are saved thanks to the research that animals supply researchers with. Animals testing have taken over our knowledge of medicine and treatments to a whole different level. Animal testing also does this in a cheap and effective way. Without animals testing out knowledge wouldn’t be up to date, in other words animals’ testing is good.

Every day, animals such as rabbits, chimpanzees, and mice take part of medical experimentation. “Chimpanzees share 99% of their DNA with humans, and mice are 98% genetically similar to humans. The United States and Gabon are the only two countries that allow experimentation on chimpanzees.” (The Jane Goodall Institute of Canada). What people don’t understand is that these animals contribute to medical discoveries regarding human health. Animals should be used for medical experimentation because they contribute to many cures and treatments that have saved lives, their genetic material appears to be similar to those of humans, they are similar to human beings in many ways, animals are the only organisms other than humans who we can experiment on, and the animals themselves benefit from the result of animal testing.

Animals have successfully been used to understand biological processes, assess safety of different chemicals, develop vaccines and antibiotics, produce treatments for hepatitis C, rheumatoid arthritis, polio, diabetes and many more . However, it is impossible to know if the use of animals was required to acquire this research or if the amount of suffering and death could have been reduced or avoided in order to achieve the same results. It is well established that animals have been invaluable in the pursuit of biomedical research, and the benefits from using animals currently means that eliminating animal research is also immoral. This is because the benefits received from some research greatly outweigh the potential costs to the animals and it would be unjust not to perform such experiments. Consequently, animal research should not be fully banned due to the benefits it yields, but should be more heavily regulated to reduce the moral costs.

We often see animal testing as an inhumane act of cruelty, however, we do not recognize the benefits and reasoning behind it all. After carefully studying the reasoning behind animals in medical research, I was appalled by the numerous beneficial outcomes. Research professionals tells us “Medical testing on animals has provided humans with an understanding of how body reacts to certain medications, diseases, or vaccines (animalresearch.info).” Without conducting such research, humans would have no further advancements in medicine, nor any knowledge of their effects. Have you ever noticed the prominence of commercials advertising a new medication? Whether it was a new birth control, blood thinner, or vaccine, more than likely, an animal was used to test the medicine. Animal Smart researchers explains how “Vaccines such as smallpox, measles, mumps, diphtheria and tetanus would have taken much longer to develop without the use of animal research (animal smart). Such diseases would have taken the lives of many young children and adults if there were no

The subject of animal testing when it comes to religion is exceedingly debated. As long as there is no unnecessary pain inflicted onto the animals and there is a real possibility of benefit to human beings, then Jewish, Christian, and Muslim teaching allows for animal experimentation. On the other hand, many people believe that since religious traditions, such as Hindu or Buddashism, tell us to be merciful to animals, we should not cause them suffering by experimenting on them.

Animal experimentation goes back to the 17th Century; its purpose is to use conscious animals as experiments where they practice the advances in medicine to assure a product’s safety before it is released to the market. For example, with the help of animal tests, scientists study new treatments for diseases in humans and animals. Must be remembered, laboratories in the U.S kill more than 100 million animals of different species a year when doing these experiments.

Animals have been a part of scientific experimentation since the time of the Ancient Greeks (Hajar, 2011). However, the ethics behind animal experimentation has been a topic of debate during recent years. Some argue that animal testing is extremely important in making progress within the field of human medicine. Others would express beliefs in the complete opposite viewpoint, arguing that there are more beneficial methods in which experimentation can be executed without the suffering of animals. This paper will argue against the use of experimental procedures in animals due to the poor generalizability of the results that are obtained in such experiments.

Animal experimentation is widely conducted for drug testing, medical training, education, as well as Research and Development (R&D). Over 100 million animals are killed in the laboratories annually, and they are physically and psychologically traumatised by experimentation (PETA, 2017; Live Science, 2017). However, the reality is that majority of animal experiments are unreliable. Most of their sacrifices do not contribute to improving human health as the medical treatments developed in animals rarely translate to human benefits due to the differing complexities between experimental animals and humans (PETA, 2017; Live Science, 2017). Hence, we argue that the role of animal experimentation in medical research is questionable.

Animal experimentation has notably advanced the medical field since its beginnings nearly two thousand years ago. Modern surgeries, antibiotics, and vaccines have been discovered and put into effect to better the lives of humans worldwide and increase our life expectancy by thirty years. However, animal rights activists argue that tests are not accurate or reliable due to angularities. Morality continues to toy with the minds of the public. Religious organizations, like the Catholic Church, approve of animal testing when it is used to improve the means of health treatment, but the experiments must be as humane as possible. Along with this, the Catholic Church does not consider the cosmetic industry to be included in the realm of health treatment.

Animal experimentation has been a controversial issue amongst scientists and animal activists since the early 1600s (Animal Testing - ProCon.org). When it comes to the topic of animal experimentation, most of us will readily agree that it’s necessary for medical research. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of morality. Whereas some are convinced that it’s unethical and scientifically unnecessary, others maintain that it’s needed for medical progress. My stance on the subject is animal experimentation is fundamental for medical advancement and cancer research.

Animal experimentation has been used for centuries for biomedical research. One of the earliest examples is Greek physicians such as Aristotle and Galen who conducted tests on animals to get a better understanding of humans and make advances in the field of science. This method of experimenting on animals is out of date in today’s advanced technological society. This discussion of using animal for experimentation has dominated societal conversations for many years now due to many reasons. This includes the fact that there are alternatives, it proves ineffective, and it violates federal law.

In the medical field, animals are used for everything including basic understanding of human biology and further research in drug and vaccine development (Animal Justice 2015). Since the beginnings of medicine, animals are used as models in the medical field and has led to the existence of many types of cures and treatments to treat ailments that are available for humans’ usage now. Aristotle and Erasistratus are the early Greek physician scientists who carried out experiments on live animals (Hajar 2011). In UK, the use of animals in the medical field started with Harvey’s experiments on different types of animals to demonstrate the process of blood circulation (Understanding Animal Research n.d.). The development of medical science cause the numbers of animals used in research to increase steadily over the late 19th and the 20th centuries.

In the West part of the world dating back to around 200 AD, animals were used as instruments to learn about the human body. While no anesthetics were known to exist at this time, live pigs, goats and monkeys were dissected in hopes of learning about the human body and how it works. With few intervals in time, the experiments on animals have continued up to the present day. Although several improvements in medical science were accredited to the use of animals, animals should not be used for medical research.