Should Animals Be Used For Medical Research?

Worldwide, there has always been a plethora of issues concerning whether animals should or should not be used for biomedical research. There are some advocating for the best and most-advanced medicine for the people; with disregard for the animal’s health. They believe people’s needs should be the first concern. However, others put the animal’s health first. If the animal is not in safe conditions, then it does not matter what medicine advances might be discovered. Biomedical research is defined as “The application of the natural sciences, especially the biological and physiological sciences, to clinical medicine” (“Biomedicine.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, www.dictionary.com/browse/biomedical.). Without biomedical research on animals, modern medicine would not exist. Animal testing has enabled the findings of treatments for cancer, antibiotics for infections, and preventatives for illnesses. For these reasons, animal testing should be used in the process of developing biomedical research.

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.

In discussion of animal rights, one controversial issue has been whether or not animals should be use for medical testing. On the one hand, some scientists argue that animal testing has contributed for many cures and treatments. On the other hand, animal rights activist contends that alternative methods now exist that can replace the need for animals. Others even maintain that animal testing is an essential part in medical research. My own view is that animals should not be used in medical testing because is no longer necessary now there are methods that are safer and have better results than animals do.

With technological advancement in today’s world, it is necessary to stop and reevaluate the means of which scientific testing is being done. Being a controversial topic discussed for years, animal testing is scientific experiments involving animals being forced into harmful and cruel situations. Scientist insert deathly diseases into animals and they use many techniques to try and cure the illness. By looking at the factors of animal testing, one can see that it is appalling which is important because understanding the flaws of animal testing will help shape a better future for the scientific community.

Everyone has benefited from the use of animal research in one way or another. My sister was diagnosed with asthma when born and without the help of animal research asthma would still be incurable. Experiencing this history with my sister I went into this research with a large bias for animal research. I found that research on animals is not a new discussion, “[h]umans have been using other vertebrate animal species…as models of their anatomy and physiology since the dawn of medicine.” (Franco 239) The ancient Greeks used animals for experiments with no question of morality ever being raised because of their “ranking in the scala naturae (the chain of being).” (Franco) Every major era came with a new dispute over how to handle animal

The testing of animals in scientific and commercial research has been debated for many years. Some people view animals as companions or part of the family, but others think of them as a way to advance medicine by providing researchers with a means to develop better medical techniques, discovering vaccines, and helping to find a cure for a disease. Regardless of how a person may view animals, they are worthy of better protection by our government and us as a society. Although some animal testing has been successful, there are research alternatives that could eliminate the pain, suffering, and deaths that animals endure in scientific research. Therefore, animals should not be used in scientific research

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.

Based on this, the hypothesis is that animal testing is a gift of life and hope for everyone. The main purpose of animal testing is that it helps in the search for drugs and treatments to improve health and medicine. Keep in mind that many medical procedures have been made possible by animal experimentation, like HIV and cancer drugs, insulin, antibiotics, vaccines and many more. We can conclude that some experiments are considered essential for treatment of diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s. Also the procedures to treat heart disease as is the case of open heart and lung surgery, coronary bypass improves blood flow to the heart, and the replacement of a defective heart valve. We should also mention the techniques and equipment for renal dialysis. Radiation therapy also was tested first in mice and rats. The cure for measles, smallpox, blood transfusions, and microsurgery to reattach severed limbs. In other promising research on lessons of the spinal cord and paralysis, so-called neurological, trying to find ways to repair nerve tissue and restore movement. These are some of the reasons why the scientific community and much of society support this practice. Which shows that without animal testing, many humans, and also animals would not be alive today, would not have been possible to eradicate many pests that plague mankind.

As evidence, forward - thinking scientists have developed options such as “Human, modern, and effective non-animal research methods, including cheaper, faster, and more accurate than animal testing”(PETA 1). If groups scientists have developed new approaches that don’t involve animals, then why are other scientists still testing animals? Because the scientists currently doing animal experimentation want to think that they have the right methods and procedure, but that all the other scientists are wrong. Abviously that isn’t the case. In fact, more of the world’s forward - thinking scientists have developed methods for studying diseases that replace animals and are relevant to human health, such as “Sophisticated tests using human cells and tissues, advanced computer - modeling techniques, and studies with human volunteers”(PETA 1). When experts have found modern designs that don’t involve animals, then scientists need to take advantage of that. It would be less of a hassle to deal with animals, as it would to figure out operations on computers. Scientists say using animals for experiments is crucial because they must test their theories, medicines, and treatments without putting humans lives at risk. Meanwhile, several Institutions now use training methods based on human anatomy such as “Virtual reality simulations that allow students to practice

It is often argued by many people that using animals for scientific research and experimentation have led to several major medical breakthroughs and is a safer alternative

Animals should be used for medical testing. Animals can help save thousands of lives. If we don't test on animals, we will have to start testing on humans. That will cause a decrease in the human population. If it works on animals, it will most likely work on us. Animal bodies work very similar to ours so it is a good idea to test on animals. Some people might say that the animals will go extinct, but they wont unless we do medical testing on animals wisely. And not all medical treatments will need animal testing. So why not?

Why should animals be used for medical research? Is it because some animals are similar to humans probably. Even though animals have rights they should still be used for experiments because if scientist experiment on humans and something go wrong they could kill that human being. That is why animals should be used for medical research because they have different blood type and cells from us. Something that can easily kill us might not kill an animal, so with that they can find a way to cure the disease. In this paper I will represent alternative positions on the topic of testing, teaching and experimenting on different types of animals. I feel when testing things on different animals you get different results. When testing different animals you would get different results because some animals are provided with the help of the law to be giving pain relief. Some species are categorized based on the law. Animals that were funded by the law were the ones to get tested on.

Animals are the only whole, living body other than humans to perform scientific study on. In many cases there is just no other choice than to use animals because they are the only other thing besides humans that have sophisticated, detailed operations in the body systems. The testing process requires a circulatory system to carry a drug to different parts and areas of the body in order to see the effects it has on them. For example, things such as blindness and high blood pressure can not be studied from a tissue culture, tube, or little dish(“Animal Testing”). Although many argue you do not need the body to test, we do not currently have the technology to make computer programs or other methods of replicating the intricate and highly sensitive

Why does testing play a crucial part in medical research? It is necessary for understanding and sorting out the problems that we human beings are vulnerable to, researching and testing using animals have been a practice of scientists for a long time now, and in profuse instances, it has deemed beneficial, given the medical advancements that were possible due to it. However, in the recent past, this practice have been regarded as immoral; animal testing has been seen by communities as the breaching of animal rights. This issue requires being a subject matter of extensive debating if we want to understand whether we humans have sacrificed morals and ethics for our own gain. However, what has been a rather controversial topic of discussion is the use of animals in various medical researchers. Should they be included in medical research?

Using animals for experiments and tests can be more useful than using lab tools and chemicals for many reasons. Using animals can actually show you what could happen to humans, but when just using lab tools the scientists can’t actually see what problems the humans could face. Using animals can also be useful when you do not know what kind of chemical you are looking for. The changes in the gene expression patterns give clues about what kind of chemical is used.