Essay on Animal Research and Testing, Is it Ethical?

In our ever-changing world the race to find the best technological advancements has never been higher. Progress within the medical field has changed drastically in the last 50 years. “Health is driven by the technologies that cure the unhealthy. These technologies need to advance along with an advancing society. In the last five decades new and improved, less expensive, medicine has been produced” (Leonard). Behind all this advanced medicine are the technologies, or creatures, that are used to test and improve the medicine. Animals are used to test the drugs and medicine that are in route to be produced for human use. “The term "Animal Testing" refers to procedures performed on living animals for purposes of research into basic biology and diseases, assessing the effectiveness of new medicinal products” (Humane Society). There are people who side with, and agree that animal testing improves the lives of humans, and there are individuals who believe the harm this research brings to animals is unreasonable and can be prevented.

Animal testing has contributed to many life-saving cures, treatments, and major advances in understanding and treating conditions such as breast cancer, childhood leukemia, brain injuries, cystic fibrosis, malaria, multiple sclerosis, tuberculosis, and many others, and was instrumental in the development of pacemakers, cardiac valve substitutes, and anesthetics. Using animals as research subjects is appropriate because they are similar to human beings in many ways.

Beagles, for example, are the most commonly used pets for scientific experiments because of their trustworthy, and friendly personalities. They study how beagles react under certain amounts of stress, and learned that laboratory dogs are much better at handling it since they were raised in a particular environment. Fortunately, the percentage of animal use in experiments has decreased by 6% since 2014 (Faunalytics.org). Animals, such as the beagles, have painful and stressful procedures for research, that can also have long lasting effects from these studies.

A life can be taken or created in a matter of seconds and with that has come the miracles of modern medicine. People have come to expect science to save lives, prevent illness, relieve suffering and improve the quality of life. The means of curing, treating and preventing diseases are not achieved by magic or accident. Medical advances are gained through years of intensive research -- research in which laboratory animals have played, and continue to play, a critical role. Opponents of animal testing are wrongfully determined that this process is completely unethical.

In the problem, there are always opposite sides which can create the debate about using animals in the laboratory experiments. Some people want to

There is humane ways to do research. Such as the In Vitro method. This method uses a system that mimics the structure and function of the human organs and organ system. This can be used in disease research, drug testing, and cosmetics. It also allows for cancer screening, and to test new surgical operations. Scientists are developing new cell and tissue tests. This alternative is less costly and way more reliable than using animal tests. In 2004 there was an arthritis drug called Vioxx that was tested on animals. If appeared to be safe, but it was later recalled

It is been assessed that about, twenty-eight million animals are used every year in the United States for science and profitable testing. Animal testing is used to progress in medicinal treatments, to determine the toxicity of medications, research safety of products intended for human use.(Lawrie, 2014).

Animal research, also known as in vivo testing, is the use of animals for experiments. Experimentation on animals dates back to as early as 500 BC, making this form of medical education and research one of the most fundamental known to humans. Almost 400 years ago, a doctor named William Harvey used animals to discover how blood circulated in the body. This discovery is considered the spark of the scientific revolution in which many lives were saved all thanks to the help of animal testing. The modern era of animal research started about 150 years ago with the rise of physiology as a science. Today, fruit flies and mice are the most common test subjects used for animal testing. About 50 to 100 million vertebrate and invertebrate animals are used around the world every year. The source of the animals varies depending on the species of the animal and the country where the experimentation is taking place. Most animals used for experiments are bred for this purpose. Animals are used for experiments inside universities, medical schools, farms, large companies and other places that provide animal-testing services. It has been proven that almost every medical discovery in the 20th century and even up to this century used animals in some way. Many scientists reaffirm that even complex computers cannot model connections between molecules, cells, tissues, organs, organisms and the environment.

In the United States over 25 million invertebrate has been used for testing yearly, and that is just for the U.S alone. The animals that are used in these labs are rats,, fish, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, farm animals, birds, cats, dogs,, and non-human primates (monkeys, and in some countries, chimpanzees). Scientists use animals to test cosmetics, drugs, pesticides, household products, and industrial chemicals just to name a few. An example of animal

Animals are used because they are very similar to humans in the ways that they function, including; breathing, movement, sight, hearing, digestion, and reproduction. Other alternatives to the use of animals in research are easier said than done but also may not yet be

Animal experimentation dates back thousands of years and for many centuries was known as a common and standard scientific practice. This testing is used for a variety of reasons, for example the understanding of biology, improvement of medicine, and also assists in preventing diseases. In the United States, there are roughly

Animal testing is essential for developing lifesaving treatments. Due to experiments on animals we have treatments for diabetics, tuberculosis, breast cancer, malaria and brain injuries. Immunizations against mumps, polio, and hepatitis has saved a countless number of lives thanks to the discovery of new drugs. Roughly ninety-five percent of all lab animals are special-bred mice and rats. The balance of animals that are tested on is rabbits, guinea pigs, sheep, pigs, and fruit flies. Rodents are considered the number one choice for modern medical researchers because they have a short life span. They choose animals that have a life span of two to three years because that allows the scientists to observe what happens during the “fast forward” stage. Six out of the eight major discoveries were recognized with Nobel Prizes, some of which involve the bone-marrow transplant, cloning of genes, and the detection of proto-oncogenes in normal DNA. The essential need for animal research and observation is supported by health agencies and medical associations around the world.

The moral status of animals is an issue of much debate in Science. According to The Royal Society, the oldest scientific academy nowadays, it would have been impossible for science and medicine to develop so without animal research (“The Use of Non-Human Animals in Research”, 2004). Nevertheless, do the human medical benefits really justify the animal suffering in animal research? If so, what should are the possible considerations and limitations related to the matter? It appears to be a challenge to find common ground concerning the above questions. This paper will first present the current guidelines of animal research, and what is being done to help preserve the suffering and health animals as much as possible. In order to have a

History provides ample proof on the benefits of animal testing. Experimentation on animals has been an efficient practice that has been in use since 500 B.C.E. Although some select animals may suffer pain, their pain is the price paid for millions of lives being saved. Without animal testing, many cures and vaccines would not exist today, thereby leading to the loss of many human lives. The suffering of animals can be justified due to the fact that an animal’s suffering prevents the suffering of humans. Animals should be used for scientific and medical research because the contributions they provide to the world lead to life saving cures, they are the only test specimens for humans, and they provide the most effective results.

There are three main reasons why animals are used in experiments are research on disease, behavior, and education. Research of how the cells function and how disease works. What causes the disease? What can prevent those diseases and how to cure them? Research’s test drugs, chemicals, or products to determine safety and effectiveness.