The Pros and Cons of Medical Research Using Live Animals BY: Connor Hedrick, Makayla Kitzmiller, Emmaline Lamp, and Alex Kidd

Background

What is animal testing? Animal testing is medical research done on animals. Why do scientists test on animals? Animals get tested on by scientists for research, medical reasons, finding cures, and helping us learn more about humans as well.

Background for Pros

An estimated 26 million animals are used every year in the United States for scientific and commercial testing.

Animals are used to develop medical treatments, determine the toxicity of medications, check the safety of products destined for human use, and other biomedical, commercial, and healthcare uses. Research on living animals has been practiced since at least 500 BC.

Pro

● Opponents of animal testing say that it is cruel and inhumane to experiment on animals ● alternative methods available to researchers can replace animal testing ● that animals are so different from human beings that research on animals often yields irrelevant results. ● But.., animals are very much like humans, thus the reason why we test on them.

Pro

● Animal testing has enabled the development of numerous life-saving treatments for both humans and animals, ● there is no alternative method for researching a complete living organism ● strict regulations prevent the mistreatment of animals in laboratories.

Main Points for Pros

● Animal testing has helped save many lives ● Animals themselves have benefited from the testing. ● Animals are much like humans

How Has Animal Testing Helped?

Every time a new vaccination for a virus comes it has already been tested and invented with the help of animal research labs. ● Penicillin ● Breast Cancer ● Blood Transfusion ● Asthma .. and more

Definition of Terms

● Toxicity- Is the degree in which a substance can damage an organism.

● Biomedical- Of or relating to both biology and medicine.

● Proponents- A person who advocates a theory, proposal,or project.

Background for Cons

According to Human Society International animals used in experiments are commonly subjected to force feeding, forced inhalation, food/water deprivation, infliction of burns and other wounds, etc.

Animals are very different from humans. The anatomic, metabolic, and cellular differences make animals poor models for humans.

Cons

Dr. Donald Ingber , a biological engineer at Harvard University, has developed an artificial lung on a microchip to replicate the functions of a working body. These functions include breathing and blood flow. This increases the potential of new ways to test certain medications without the expense and torture of living creatures.

Main points for Cons

● 95% of drugs passed by animal tests are immediately discarded as useless or dangerous to humans ● Less than 2% of human illness (1.16%) ● Animal tests may mislead researchers into ignoring potential cures and treatments.

Definition of Terms

Anatomic: Relating to body structure.

Metabolic: Relating to basically any organic function.

Cellular: Relating to cells.

Works Cited

● ● ● ● Burrel, Teal. "Can We Eliminate Animals from Medical Research?."

Nova Next

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"Medical benefits."

Speaking of research

. UWmadison, 20 oct 2014. Web. 20 Oct 2014.

Murnaghan, Ian. "Using animals for testing."

About animal testing

. About animal testing, 16 10 2014.

Web. 16 Oct 2014.

"Should animals be used for Scientific or Commercial testing."

Animal testing pros and cons

. N.p., 08 10 14. Web. 16 Oct 2014.