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Animal Research

1) One hundred years ago, leading causes of death like tuberculosis were more common and life expectancy was much lower, with about half of people dying by age 50. 2) While animal testing is commonly used to test drug safety, it has many limitations since humans and animals differ physiologically. Many drugs that harmed or killed animals during testing have still been approved for human use and later removed from the market after harming people. 3) The use of animals in research and testing safety has been controversial for decades, with differing views on whether the potential human benefits outweigh the pain and suffering of animals. Many argue alternative non-animal tests could provide sufficient protection without animal exploitation.

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58 views

Animal Research

1) One hundred years ago, leading causes of death like tuberculosis were more common and life expectancy was much lower, with about half of people dying by age 50. 2) While animal testing is commonly used to test drug safety, it has many limitations since humans and animals differ physiologically. Many drugs that harmed or killed animals during testing have still been approved for human use and later removed from the market after harming people. 3) The use of animals in research and testing safety has been controversial for decades, with differing views on whether the potential human benefits outweigh the pain and suffering of animals. Many argue alternative non-animal tests could provide sufficient protection without animal exploitation.

Uploaded by

Anonymous vWcR0LrU
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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A hundred years ago, good health was much rarer than it is today.

In 1870, the leading cause


of death in the United States was tuberculosis. Of all the people born in developed countries like
the United States, a quarter were dead by the age of 25, and about half had died by the age of 50.
Those fortunate enough to have survived to old age had probably experienced several bouts with
diseases like typhoid fever, dysentery, or scarlet fever.
The choice isn’t between animals and people. There’s no guarantee that drugs are safe just
because they’ve been tested on animals. Because of the physiological differences between humans
and other animals, results from animal tests cannot be accurately extrapolated to humans, leaving
us vulnerable to exposure to drugs that can cause serious side effects. Drugs that sicken or kill
animals don’t always prevent a drug from being marketed. So much evidence has accumulated
about differences in the effects that chemicals have on animals and humans that government
officials often do not act on findings from animal studies. In the last two decades, many drugs,
including phenacitin, Eferol, Oraflex, Suprol, and Selacryn, were taken off the market after causing
hundreds of deaths and/or injuries. In fact, more than half the drugs that the Food and Drug
Administration approved between 1976 and 1985 were either removed from the market or
relabeled because of serious side effects. If the pharmaceutical industry switched from animal
experiments to sophisticated non-animal tests, we would have greater protection, not less.
Using animals in research and to test the safety of products has been a topic of heated
debate for decades. According to data collected by F. Barbara Orlans for her book, In the Name of
Science: Issues in Responsible Animal Experimentation, sixty percent of all animals used in testing
are used in biomedical research and product-safety testing. People have different feelings for
animals; many look upon animals as companions while others view animals as a means for
advancing medical techniques or furthering experimental research. However, individuals perceive
animals, the fact remains that animals are being exploited by research facilities and cosmetics
companies all across the country and all around the world. Although humans often benefit from
successful animal research, the pain, the suffering, and the deaths of animals are not worth the
possible human benefits. Therefore, animals should not be used in research or to test the safety of
products.

Does Animal Testing Help Human Medicine?


(1) Less than 2% of human illnesses (1.16%) are ever seen in animals.
(2) 95% of drugs passed by animal tests are immediately discarded as useless or dangerous to
humans.
(3) At least 50 drugs on the market cause cancer in laboratory animals. They are allowed
because it is admitted the animal tests are not relevant.
(4) Rats are only 37% effective in identifying what causes cancer to humans. Flipping a coin
would be more accurate.
(5) Sex differences among laboratory animals can cause contradictory results. This does not
correspond with humans.
(6) An estimated 83% of substances are metabolised by rats in a different way to humans.
(7) Lemon juice is a deadly poison, but arsenic, hemlock and botulin are safe according to
animal tests.
(8) Aspirin fails animal tests, as does digitalis (a heart drug), cancer treatments, insulin (causes
animal birth defects), penicillin and other safe medicines. They would have been banned if
vivisection were heeded.
(9) Blood transfusions were delayed 200 years by animal studies, corneal transplants were
delayed 90 years.
(10) At least thirty-three animals die in laboratories each second worldwide; in the UK,
one every four seconds.

People and animals die of diseases and medical complications every day. The use of
animals in medical research is important to society today and in the past. Without the use of
animals, we would lack the drugs, vaccinations, and medical procedures for people and animals
that we have today.

 Animal research has played a vital part in nearly every medical breakthrough over the last
decade.
 Nearly every Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine since 1901 has relied on animal
data for their research.
 We share 95% of our genes with a mouse, making them an effective model for the human
body.
 Animals and humans are very similar; we have the same organ systems performing the
same tasks in more or less the same way.
 Animals suffer from similar diseases to humans including cancers, TB, flu and asthma.
 All veterinary research has relied on the use of animal research.
 While non-animal methods play an important part of biomedical research, they cannot
replace all use of animals.
 In vitro methods, such as cell cultures, and computer modelling play an important part
complementing data from animal models.
 Many veterinary medicines are the same as those used for human patients: examples
include antibiotics, pain killers and tranquillisers.
 Modern anaesthetics, the tetanus vaccine, penicillin and insulin all relied on animal
research in their development.
 Modern surgical techniques including hip replacement surgery, kidney transplants, heart
transplants and blood transfusions were all perfected in animals.
 Scanning techniques including CT and MRI were developed using non-human animals.
 Cosmetic testing is banned in Europe since 2004

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