Animals and Scientific Research, Essay Example

The pace of progress in medical science has been astonishing over the last century and many medical conditions that were once wide prevalent such as polio are almost at the brink of extinction. But all of this progress in medical science has also been made possible by scientific research on animals though one cannot deny the fact that the test subjects did have to go through inhumane treatment. Thus, it is not surprising that despite huge benefits, scientific experiments on animals is a controversial topic and critics often demand a stop to experiments on animals on ethical grounds. Critics may have certain valid arguments but scientific experiment on animals should be allowed because the benefits of doing so outweigh the costs.

The major reason behind experiments on animals is that this is the most practical and feasible option available to scientists. The other option is to experiments on humans which will have even great social and ethical repercussions. Even though humans are different species from animals such as rats and monkeys who are often test subjects, they share more similarities among them than differences. Mice share more than 90 percent of their genes with humans and even fish and tadpoles share enough characteristics to make them useful for experiment purposes (University of Oxford). The other alternative is research on human but not only will it attract greater controversy but the financial, emotional, and social costs will also be quite high for test subjects who may have to deal with unpredictable consequences. Another problem with this alternative is that while the scientists can house animal test subjects for the long term, prevent their interaction with other living species, and observe them in a controlled environment for both short and long periods, same may not be possible with human test subjects. Thus, experiments on animals do not only impose the least social and financial cost to the society but are also more practical.

Even for the scientists who experiment on animals, it is probably not an easy decision but they may be motivated by the fact that the benefits to the society from these activities usually greatly exceed the costs. If it were not for experiments on animals, we would not have been able to develop vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, rabies, whooping cough, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, measles, mumps, and rubella. Similarly, open heart surgery which saves 440,000 lives in the U.S. alone could not have been possible without 20 years of animal research (Botting and Morrison). Some may argue that computing technology has advanced enough to replace experiments on animals but the current state of technology is still not sufficient to completely eradicate the need for experiments on animals. Living organisms such as humans are extraordinarily complex systems and while we know a lot about human biological system, there is still much to learn. In addition, the state of computing has not reached a level where it may be possible to develop and run models of parts of or whole systems in the human body even if we knew everything there is to know about human biological system (University of Oxford). Experiments on animals have not only made progress in medical science possible in the past but are also necessary for progress on current challenges such as HIV/AIDS. Former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop claims that we would have almost no understanding of the AIDS virus were it not for decades of research into animal retroviruses (Vernon). Thus, experiments on animals are necessary to make progress on some of the toughest challenges faced by medical science.

While it is still not possible to completely eradicate the need for experiments on animals, the positive news is that the scientific profession has taken numerous voluntary measures to improve the wellbeing of animals who are test subjects. Similarly, some countries have also introduced laws to ensure humane treatment of animals and minimize unnecessary suffering. The most noteworthy fact may be that fewer animals are being experimented upon now as compared to the past, probably due to advancements in technologies as well as better research practices. The numbers of dogs, cats, and non-primates who were used as test subjects dropped from being nearly 200,000 in 1973 to less than 50,000 by 1995. Similarly, the number of animals who were experimented upon in the U.K. also dropped from being around 5 million in the late 1970s to about 3 million by early 1990s (Mukerjee). Several other measures have also been taken to improve welfare of animals used in experiments such as the passage of Animal Welfare Act and Health Research Extension Act which require more humane treatment of animals used in research activities. Similarly, Chimp Haven sanctuary has been built in Shreveport, Louisiana which hosts chimps that have been retired by the research labs (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)).

The critics of experiments on animals argue that it is unethical because rights are not determined by intellectual capacity and these experiments violate animals’ basic rights as living organisms. First of all, science doesn’t deal with ethical aspects which belong to the philosophy domain. In addition, this is a complicated issue because not doing experiments on animals may be even more unethical since it will prevent medical science from coming up with treatments that could save the lives of hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of human beings. Even though experiments on animals does have certain controversial aspects, the fact that standards and research procedures regarding experiments on animals continue to improve to ensure as humane treatment of animals as possible, should be celebrated. This demonstrates that scientists have become more aware of the welfare of animals and only experiment on them when no alternatives are available. And when scientists do experiment, they take every possible measure to ensure that the suffering is minimum and animals, who retire are well taken care of.

Even supporters of animal research realize that there is no clear-cut solution to the issue but they also realize that the benefits to the society greatly exceed the potential costs. The critics often brand experiments on animals as unethical but they do not explore all aspects of the issue as not experimenting on animals may also have unethical consequences. There is no denying that some form of suffering by animals used in experiments is unavoidable but fortunately, standards and research procedures regarding animal research have significantly improved to ensure as humane treatment of animals as possible.

References

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). Animal Testing. 16 March 2013 <http://www.aspca.org/aspcakids/real-issues/animal-testing.aspx>.

Botting, Jack H. and Adrian R. Morrison. “Animal Research Is Vital to Medicine.” Scientific American February 1997: 83-85.

Mukerjee, Madhusree. “Trends in Animal Research.” Scientific American February 1997: 86-93.

University of Oxford. Research using animals: an overview. 16 March 2013 <http://www.ox.ac.uk/animal_research/research_using_animals_an_overview/index.html#aarent_animals_too_different_from_humans_to_tell_us_anything_useful>.

Vernon, Jamie L. PETA Should Rethink Its Campaign Against Animal Research. 30 June 2011. 15 March 2013 <http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2011/06/30/peta-should-rethink-its-campaign-against-animal-research/#.UURUeBwyzTd>.