Animal Testing

The existence of animal testing has been a heated debate for decades. Scientists use animals to test the effectiveness and safety of the new medicine and to have better understanding of the disease and human biology, which have contributed to a lot of medical breakthrough. For instance, the huge discover of penicillin is one of the breakthroughs. According to the website, Recherche Animale(n.d.), “It’s on mice that in 1940 Alexander Fleming discovered the antibiotic effect of penicillin”. That means, animal testing is crucial for the new discovery in the medical field. Thus, animal testing is necessary and an indispensable part in the development of human society.

The first reason why animal testing is essential is to protect the safety of people. Whenever the scientists discover a new kind of medicine or a new treatment, they need to run dozens of trials to ensure the utility and safety. And before human trial can take place, animal testing is required because it can help to eliminate the potentially harmful drug or procedure. On the basis of a website, ProCon. Organization, during the 2020 pandemic, researchers have to test the vaccine for coronavirus on mice first to avoid having vaccine enhancement, a situation where vaccine makes the symptoms even worse (ProCon, 2020). Some might say that we can use human volunteers instead of animals; however, we can’t infect human volunteer with already-existing disease since it probably would generate an entirely new virus strain and cause greater danger to the society. Therefore, animal testing is a necessary step which can’t be skipped in order to keep us safe.

Secondly, animals are better research subjects than human beings. Surprisingly, animals are biologically similar to humans in a large extent. In fact, mice share a 98% of genetic similarities with human, and chimpanzees even got a 99% of it. And thus, it contributes to the fact that animals share tons of diseases that human are suffering from such as cancer and diabetes. However, unlike human’s life expectancy, animals like mice have relatively shorter life cycles, which makes it easier for researchers to observe the different stages of the disease and the effect of the treatment in a brief period of time. To make things better, animals themselves can benefit from the testing result as well. As the book, Science, Medicine, and Animals (Institute of Medicine, 1991) mentioned that “Pets, livestock, and animals in zoos live longer, more comfortable, and healthier lives as a result of animal research”. In other words, animals themselves can take advantage of animal testing as well. Consequently, animal testing not only makes a better research subject but also severs greater purposes than it seemingly sees.

Though some people may still argue that animal testing is inhumane, they think it is morally wrong to benefit from exploiting the animals. However, in the perspective of reality, sacrifice is needed and inevitable for the greater good of the vast majority. Moreover, not every laboratory or company that uses the method of animal testing are mistreating the animals. We cannot draw conclusion from one part and miss the whole picture. Take the researchers in Stanford for example. It is their consensus to ensure the well-being of the animals in their care and to have their animal research proposals examined thoroughly to fit the federal laws and humane principles. The reason is that mis-treated animals can lead to untrustworthy data, which is not helpful at all. Just like Stanford Medicine (2021) states, “Poor animal care is not good science”. As a result, the concern for the mistreated animals is not sufficient enough to stop the existence of animal testing.

In conclusion, though some might still question the legitimacy of animal testing, it is undeniably an essential part of our society. Since it can protect the safety of human and benefits not only human but also animals. What’s more, without it, cancer, diabetes, and many other diseases would not have been possible to treat or even cure. Therefore, instead of trying to get rid of animal testing completely, managing to find the balance between animal testing and its ethical use are our next goal. Also, we must bear in mind that animal testing is a kind resource that we need to use wisely, not wastefully!

References

Animal research and medical breakthroughs. (n.d.). Recherche Animale. https://www.recherche-animale.org/en/animal-research-and-your-health/animal-research-and-medical-breakthroughs

Animal Testing - Pros & Cons - ProCon.org. (2020, June 10). Animal Testing.

https://animal-testing.procon.org/

“How Do Animals Benefit from Animal Research?” Science, Medicine, and Animals (1991). The National Academic Press.

https://www.nap.edu/read/10089/chapter/7

Why Animal Research? (n.d.). Animal Research at Stanford. https://med.stanford.edu/animalresearch/why-animal-research.html