***Scientific Views on Aminal Testing (help)***?

Question

Hi, I have to my science coursework on whether animals should be used for medical testing purposes only. I'm struggling to find any scientific reasons/evidence as to why they should or shouldn't be used for these purposes.

If anyone has any suggestions could you let me no please?

Many thanks in advance :)

Answer 1

Simple.

1. Animals don't react in the same way as humans to various drugs and diseases including aspirin and HIV/AIDS.

2. Quote from the European Medicines Agency (page 2 of the pdf provided below):

"No laboratory species provides an ideal model for human metabolism"

I'm not saying that we should not test new medicines or make medical advances, but we are technologically reaching the point where we can keep a few cells of human tissue alive in a petri dish, which would be suitable for testing in most cases.

Or perhaps mothers could donate tissue from aborted foetuses to medical research.

Testing on animals may have been right in the past, but can we not do better now?

Answer 2

This is really a moral decision...I personally think it's disgusting that we think ourselves so high and mighty that we can try out all sorts of things that cause suffering, more disease, terrible pain, and loss of freedom to animals simply because they are animals.

If people lived properly, and ate the foods we're supposed to eat, stopped having s*x with everyone and their brother, we wouldn't have all these diseases we would need cures for.

Anyway...scientific evidence...We need to test things, obviously, before we put them out in the mainstream market.  But if we test things on rats...well, rats have a different type of DNA than we do...they have different brains, different lifestyles, different skin, everything.  Surely if I compared you to a rat in normal conversation, you would look at me as though I was insane.  Our bodies are comprised of different things...different percentages of water, different nerves in different places...

Sure, it works to a certain extent...but to those that say it is an infallible method: if it works perfectly, if we would see any reaction, any symptoms or problems in a rat that would occur in a human, why do we recall so many medicines?

Good Luck.

I hope you choose defend the ones that cannot defend themselves.

EDIT: To the person above me that said that Chimps are a 95% match to our DNA... doesn't that 5% concern you?

Answer 3

While there r times when there r no alternatives - from what I have seen these r VERY FEW and VERY FAR BETWEEN.    A cousin of mine had to kill rats in his nutrition class to support a masters thesis  it was NOT really needed  There r so many cases of people hurting animals needlessly.  I think that football A** should be thrown into the Roman Col and the tigers let lose.

Answer 4

reasons for:

They can be used to model human tissue and diseases, once you have done all your lab tests on new treatments and therapies you need to try them on animals to see if they will actually work on living things before you move onto humans. you would kill millions if you took new therapies onto the market without looking at animals first

Answer 5

This is a question of ethics.

Main reason against: most people would consider animals to be living, sentient beings, just like ourselves.

Main reason for: most people would consider the lives of animals to be worth less than those of people.

Answer 6

Why they should: this is how we come up with new medicines.  If we didn't test them on animals, we'd be testing them on humans or not at all.  And I really hope that something you wouldn't be willing to test on a mouse you also wouldn't be willing to test on a kid.  I head a quote from a biologist that 90% of medical advances would stop if we had to stop testing on animals.  And I think we'd all rather have a cure for cancer before that happens.

In response to the person above me - if it didn't work, we wouldn't be doing it.  Some animals are nearly genetically identical to humans - chimps share 95% of our DNA.  What works on us works on them.  Even testing on rats and mice give us volumes of information about how things work.  We are a lot more similar than you would think.  Sure, it's not 100% perfect, but it's a h**l of a lot better than nothing at all.

Answer 7

ANIMALS SHOULDNT BE TESTED ON I MEAN

WTH WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO TEST ON A d**n ANIMAL THAT CANT HELP ITSELF OR CAN'T HAVE NO POWER TO ESPCAE THEY TORTURE THESE d**n ANIMALS

http://www.stopanimaltests.org/index.asp...

Visit this site maybe you will change your mind!

Answer 8

For all of you that condemn mixing science with animals. I'm all for making sure animals around the world aren't abused. However, medicines, vaccines, drugs, treatments, etc., have to be tested on *something* to develop them and see if they work. Would you rather they be tested on humans???