Aleena Bilal
March 3rd,2022
Professor Matias
Eng 21003 Scientific Controversy Paper Draft
Topic: Animal Testing
Animal testing is a term that most people are familiar with, but they may not understand exactly what it entails. Animal experimentation, whether referred to as animal testing, animal research, refers to animal experimentation. For many years, one of the most widely debatable topics is experimental animal testing. Animal testing is utilized in the development of a wide range of products and applications and can take place anywhere, from a university to a military defense facility, as long as there is a need for product testing. Cosmetics, chemicals, and everything in between will all be put to the test. Many individuals oppose animal testing. They believe it is cruel to animals because they have no say in the situation. People who support animal testing argue that it enables the testing of prescription treatments and therapies.
Many believe that animal testing is necessary and shouldn’t be banned. Stanford Medicine is does scientific research and is at the forefront of the biomedical revolution in precision health, inventing the next generation of preventive, predictive, and accurate care. According to Standford Medicine, animals are still important in several fields of biomedical research for understanding the causes, diagnosis, and remedies of disease and suffering in humans and animals. Animals are used in research for a variety of reasons, including their biological similarities to humans. In addition, mice and humans share more than 98 percent of our DNA. Animal models, which have a shorter life cycle than humans, are researched over their whole life span and across several generations, which is crucial in understanding how a disease develops and reacts with a whole, living biological system. According to Stanford, rodents such as rats and mice, specifically bred for laboratory use, account for 95 percent of all animals used in biomedical research in the United States. Stanford researchers must also guarantee the well-being of the animals in their care, according to the strictest of standards and following federal and state laws, regulatory rules, and ethical values. They must also keep up to date with the latest information and findings in the field of laboratory animal care.
In the article “The Debate on Animal Experimentation” by Sather Health, they believe that some pros to animal testing are its medical advancement and product safety. Sather Health is a student health website that strives to provide students and their communities with reliable health information. They believe that animal studies help save countless human lives due to the development of insulin and hepatitis C vaccinations, as well as open-heart surgeries, coronary bypass surgery, and heart transplantation procedures. According to the text, “Many animals, especially primates, share about 90% of their genetic make-ups with humans, so experimenting on such animals can give scientists a good idea about possible reactions in the human body. Further, new medicines can help animals too, since breakthroughs in veterinary medicine have also occurred due to animal experimentation.” Because many animals, particularly mice the genetic make-up with humans, testing on them offer scientists a fair understanding of what happens in the human body. Many researchers have advanced in human health because of animal testing. In the article by FBResearch, they state that animal testing and research have benefitted anyone whose ever taken medicine or had medical treatment. FBResearch is committed to educating the news media, teachers, and other groups about the importance of lab animals in medical and scientific research. One example is cholesterol. According to the article, “High cholesterol is a major contributing factor in cardiovascular health. The science of cholesterol lowering drugs is grounded in animal research; the second and the nineteenth most prescribed drugs in America, Crestor and Zetia, were tested both on mice, dogs, and rats, and Zetia was also developed with rabbits and monkeys. Mice, rat and rabbit models led to the development of statins, a staple in lowering cholesterol and preserving cardiovascular health.” (“Animal Research Achievements”) Statins, which are used to decrease cholesterol and maintain cardiovascular health, were developed using mouse, rat, and rabbit models. Another example is diabetes. Insulin is required for all people with type 1 diabetes, as well as some people with type 2. Without dog research, “the creation of insulin may have not been achieved.” (“Animal Research Achievements”) Beginning in 1893, “dogs were crucial to identifying the role of the pancreas and the eventual isolation of insulin and successful injection in humans in 1922. First by monitoring blood sugar levels in rabbits, James Collins then successfully used insulin in dogs and then humans, dramatically changing the treatment of diabetes.” (“Animal Research Achievements”) Mice with type one diabetes were implanted with new insulin-producing cells, which successfully cured them. Researchers are working on an insulin shot that would last a month instead of the weekly or daily shot that people with type 2 diabetes take. The shots manage glucose levels in monkeys for more than 14 days. Because monkeys and mice have higher metabolisms than humans, the shot is effective for a month or more in humans. According the article, diabetes affects a large number of pets. Diabetic dogs and cats are more common in the United States, but diabetic animals can be addressed with the same insulin and tablet drugs that help human diabetics. According to the article, animal research assists in improving the daily lives of diabetes, humans, and animals, with improved therapies assisting in preventing the disease’s devastating effects.
While there are many pros to animal testing many think animal testing is harmful and not necessary. According to “Save the Animals: Stop Animal Testing” by Lone Star College, even though animal research aids humans, the pain and suffering many animals have to go through is not worth the potential health benefits. Lone Star College is a college as well as a research center that does scientific research on certain topics and explains them. The article claims that animal testing includes inhaling harmful gases from mice and rats, force-feeding toxins to dogs, and dropping harsh substances into rabbits’ sensitive eyes. Even though a product is harmful to animals, it can still be sold to the general public. Lone Star College believes that just because a product has been proven to be safe in animals does not mean it will be safe in humans.
In the data table regarding the number of animals used in research in the US in 2019, the highest number of animals that got tested that year were the guinea pigs which was 23 percent, other covered species which was 21%, rabbits at 18%, and hamsters at 12%. This could indicate that not only one type of animal is being examined, but a variety of them. This could also reveal how much animal testing researchers in the United States conduct each year.
According to Lone Star College, they believe animals should not be used for research or to test products for the sake of their safety. The article states that animals and humans are similar in many aspects, including how they feel, think, act, and react to pain. As a result, animals and people should be treated equally. When humans decide on the future of animals in laboratory studies, their rights are snatched away with no regard for their well-being or quality of life. Lone Star College believes animal testing should be prohibited since it violates animals’ rights. Animals are exposed to experiments that are frequently painful, cause permanent harm, or result in death, and they are never offered the choice of opting out of the experiment. According to Humane Society International, most of these animals are frequently subjected to force-feeding, deprivation of food, getting burns or wounds to study the healing process of a certain experiment. (“Should Animals Be Used for Scientific or Commercial Testing?”) The Draize test and the LD50 test are two of the most widely used toxicity tests, both of which are notorious for inflicting severe pain and suffering on experimental animals. The Draize test is blamed for being unreliable and wasting animals’ lives. The LD50 test is used to determine the amount of a drug required to kill 50 percent of animal subjects in a given amount of time. During this time, “animals often suffer from vomiting, paralysis, convulsion, internal bleeding, and diarrhea during this time. Since death is the goal and required for the study to conclude, no euthanasia is used.” ( Calen Otto )
While animal testing has its pros and cons many researchers have thought about ways animal testing could be stopped. According to Sentientmedia article, “Why Do Humans Still Experiment on Animals”, believes that the first step toward ending animal experimentation is to raise public awareness about what it involves. Many people are unconcerned about the suffering that animals endure. Alternative options for testing chemicals and medications should be studied and employed, as animal testing is not the sole choice. In addition to spreading the news, people can avoid buying animal-tested home cleansers, deodorant, feminine hygiene products, or makeup. There are a lot of cruelty-free and anti-animal-testing brands out there, particularly in the beauty industry. According to Peta Research, one strategy to help halt animal testing is to pressure government bodies to stop sponsoring and conducting animal experiments and to encourage pharmaceutical, chemical, and consumer product firms to replace animal testing with more effective non-animal techniques. Some examples include assisting students and instructors in ending classroom dissection, sponsoring ethical non-animal research, and lobbying health charities not to invest in dead-end animal experiments. Many cosmetics companies, for example, have looked for more humane ways to test their goods than using animals. According to the article, “the Body Shop, a well-known cosmetics and bath-product company based in London, the development of products that “use natural ingredients, like bananas and Basil nut oil, as well as others with a long history of safe human usage” is advocated instead of testing on animals.”(“Save the Animals: Stop Animal Testing”)
In conclusion, the use of animals in research and product testing has sparked a passionate controversy for decades. Animals generate a variety of emotions in people. Many people consider animals to be companions, while others see them as a method of improving medical advancements or expanding the experimental study. Animal testing, in my opinion, is unnecessary and should be stopped. For starters, when animals are utilized in research, their rights are compromised. Animals are exposed to experiments that are frequently uncomfortable or result in permanent harm or death, and they are never offered the choice of opting out of the experiment. Animal testing is unethical because there are possible solutions. For example, raising public awareness or avoiding buying animal-tested products.
Sources Used:
Akhtar, Aysha. “The Flaws and Human Harms of Animal Experimentation.” NCBI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4594046/.
Sather Health. “The Debate on Animal Experimentation.” https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~sather/the-debate-on-animal-experimentation/
Otto, Calen. “Why Is Animal Testing Bad and Why Should We Stop Animal Testing?” Sentient Media, 10 November 2021, https://sentientmedia.org/why-is-animal-testing-bad/
“Save the Animals: Stop Animal Testing |.” Lone Star College, https://www.lonestar.edu/stopanimaltesting.htm.
“Should Animals Be Used for Scientific or Commercial Testing?” Animal Testing – Pros & Cons, https://animal-testing.procon.org.
“Why Animal Research? | Animal Research at Stanford | Stanford Medicine.” Stanford Medicine, https://med.stanford.edu/animalresearch/why-animal-research.html
“Animal Research Achievements.” Foundation for Biomedical Research, https://fbresearch.org/medical-advances/animal-research-achievements/
