Experimentation in which nonhuman animals are used: dogs in early insulin discov
ID: 3453753 • Letter: E
Question
Experimentation in which nonhuman animals are used: dogs in early insulin discovery, frogs for testing pain relievers, fish for determining cancer causing substances in lakes and rivers, monkeys for finding a vaccine for HIV, and various animals to show that veins do not carry air but blood, to test the effects of anesthesia, and to find a vaccine for polio. What do you think of using animals for experiments such as these? Do you agree with those who say that other methods should always be used even if we would then have to do without some life-enhancing of lifesaving knowledge or therapies? Would you distinguish between larger animals and mice and rats and fish? What are your primary reasons for believing as you do?
Explanation / Answer
I think as there are two sides of the same coin ,there are two sides of this particular issue of using animals in experiments too.
Animals use in experimentation and research have proved useful for centuries now,it has provided mankind with some exceptionally good inventions which has obviously helped in improving the human life in many ways. With Advent of many new medications,newer intervention techniques life span of humans is increased.
For further such advances to be made and research to continue it is mecnecess to use animals for study. Reasons I feel being,
- animals resemble humans physiologically as well as to a lot of extent anatomically also.
- it's easier to judge how a particular intervention technique/ medication will act on human body if it's effects are well studied on various animals before.
- animals also show similarities in brain and mind thus have similar psychology as humans do. It has been of great help to many psychologist to study behaviors in animals which can be applied to humans later ,which has proven of great significance.
- legally it is necessary to test all drugs for their safety before they are used in humans so animals play important role
The flip side of this is that for the sake of humans ,lot of animals are killed , there is no need to make them undergo suffering and death if other ways of testing are avialable as in tissue culture/cell cultures/ human tissue can be used in clinical studies. Since animals feel pain and suffering as humans do ,they also have rights which one just cannot violate without any reason.
Answer 2. I do agree that other methods should be use whereever it is possible , but yes obviously not at the cost of human life. Also not at the cost of loosing some really good life saving medicine or intervention technique only because it could not undergo enough trial.
There always are boundaries and guidelines which if one follows nothing will be in excess, as in there won't be unethical use of animals in studies if ethical committee have a check. Also there will be judicious use if availability of animals for research is restricted. So some ethical guidelines are necessary to be set and followed according to me.
2. Yes larger animals do have difference in anatomy butore or less physiological similarities exist.
Smaller animals are easy to maintain ,they have advantage of unique well defined genotype.
Larger animals are used better for studying pharmacokinetics of drugs , they are very expensive,require special housing and expert handling.
Answer 4. My primary reasons to support animals studies is I myself being a research fellow I can sense the need for research and also the equally important need to test the results of research before applying it in humans.
Animal studies do play a very important role in newer inventions and in the growth of research. Many important intervention that have changed human life were possible only because of animal studies.
If carried out ethically by following all set guidelines animal studies are a boon to today's research, according to me.
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