ANIMAL TESTING

NAME: Bertha Segales Pejovez

The purpose of this document paper is to analyze how important is the animal
testing to medical science advance for humans and animals benefit. Also this
paper wants to identify how laws and organizations regulated and control the
procedures in order to protect animals.
Infant mortality has been reduced from 55 to seven deaths per 1000 live births
since 1935 to 1999. (Foundation for Biomedical Research).

Actually, almost

150 000 people dies every day. This number was bigger in the past, but it has
been reduced because of the new medical discoveries, most of them based on
animal testing. Animal testing or animal experimentation is the use of nonhuman animals in experiments or researches. (UK Parliament).

There are

many physiological and genetic similarities between animals and humans,

because of this medical science have had lots of achievements in the last
decades. Although several groups dont support animal testing for several
reasons, it is helpful for supporting medical science advance for humans and
animals benefit and it is highly regulated for organizations and laws as well.
Medical science is based on knowledge obtained by animal testing because
animals share many features with humans. For instance, National Geographic
said that humans and mice share 95 to 98 percent of their genes and the
similarity of the DNA sequence within those genes is about 80 percent.
(National Geographic) All mammals, including humans, are descended from
common ancestors, so we all have the same set of organs that function in a
similar way. Because of that, animals and humans are susceptible to the same
illnesses and conditions. For that reason, many medical treatment and
procedures have been developed from experiments on animals. For example,
modern surgical techniques were all perfected on animals.
Animal testing supports medical science advancement, and it has contributed
to the development of many life-saving cures and treatments. The California
Biomedical Research Association, which is a non-profit American association,
states that nearly every medical breakthrough in the last 100 years has

resulted directly from research using animals. (California Biomedical Reseach

Asociation) Scientists use animals to test the safety and effectiveness of newly
developed drugs before pilot testing on small groups of patients. Also they
study them looking for cures. For example, the polio vaccine was tested on
animals, and it reduces the Global occurrence of the disease from 350 000
cases in 1988 to 223 cases in 2012. (World Health Organization). Also the
modern anesthetics, the tetanus vaccine, and penicillin and insulin treatments
were relied on animal research.

Also animal themselves benefit from the

results of animal experiments. Animal testing helps science to develop animal

vaccines and treatments. Animal testing has also been instrumental in saving
endangered species from extinction, including the black-footed ferret, the
California condor and the Tamarins of Brazil. So, animal testing is beneficial for
humans and for animals.
Animal research is highly regulated with laws in order to protect the animals as
much as possible. The federal Animal Welfare Act has regulated the animal
testing since 1965. It regulated the housing standards of animals. Also each
animal testing must be approved by the Animal Care and Use Commitment.
There are also several rules in each country to protect animal life. For example
in the United Kingdom, it is forbidden to use animal testing for cosmetic
products, and the animal only can be used for medical research reasons.
Besides that, there are many organizations that care about the animal. The
most useful animals for animal testing are mice, rats, fish and birds. The
different organizations care for the correct develop of animal testing.
On the other hand, people against animal testing say that it is cruel, inhuman,
and it is a bad science. They state that the animals also have rights. Animal
testing is cruel because it causes pain and death to the animals, but sometimes
it is necessary. We cant try new treatments in people because it is dangerous
for life. In other words, animal life is valuable, but we cant compare an animal
life with a human life.

Some people say animal testing is a bad science

because most of the experiments that work in animals dont work in humans.
According to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, nine out of
ten experimental drugs fail in clinical studies because we cannot accurately
predict how they will behave in people based on laboratory and animal

studies. (Department of health and human services) despite this, there are
some

alternative

methods

that

could

be

used

instead

of

animal

experimentation, but these alternatives only can be used in some experiments.

In conclusion scientist should look for other alternatives, but if it is possible that
animal science will contribute to medical science, animal may be used for
experimental research. Animal science contribute to the benefit of human and
animal life because thanks animal testing, scientists have discovered several
treatments and cures for human and animal diseases. Animal testing is
acceptable, when the animal is treating with the less pain as possible, because
it helps to human health, to medical science development, and to animal
science development.

OUTLINE
Subject: Animal Testing
Topic: Animal testing for medical science advance and the laws that regulated
those procedures.
Question: How animal testing helps or not to medical science advance?
Possible Main Idea: Because animal share many physiological and genetic
similarities with humans, animal testing can be helpful for supporting medical
science advance for humans and animals benefit. Also, we have to take into
account that animal research is highly regulated with laws in order to protect
them as much as possible.
Points:
1. Animals share many features with humans.
2. Animal testing support medical science advance, and it has contributed
to develop many life-saving cures and treatments
3. Animal research is highly regulated with laws in order to protect them as
much as possible.
4. Animal rights activist said that animal testing is cruel, inhuman, and it is
a bad science.
Possible directions: Ways to avoid animal testing, new laws to animal care and
animal protection, biomedical ethics.

References
California Biomedical Reseach Asociation. CBRA Fact Sheet: Why Are Animals
Necessary in Biomedical Research? N.D. <ca-biomed.org>.
Department of health and human services. FDA Issues Advice to Make Earliest
Stages of Clinical Dug Development More Efficient. 12 Jan 2006.
<http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2006/NEW01296.html.>.
Foundation for Biomedical Research. The proud achievements of Animal
Research. Washinton, 2001.
M.D., Rachel Hajar. "Animal Testing." The Official Journal of the Gulf Heart
Association (2011): 2.
Magee, Chris. Understanding animal research. 2012.
<http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/assets/document/06A
DF9D4-B548-4FAB-B35EA1A2403137D4/statistics-on-animal.pdf>.
National Geographic. National Geographic. N.D.
<http://stylemanual.ngs.org/home/D/dna-genes>.
Pro-Test. Pro-Test, standing up for science. N. D. <http://www.protest.org.uk/facts.php>.
UK Parliament. "Introduction", Select Committee on Animals In Scientific
Procedures Report. UK, 2012.
World Health Organization. ""Poliomyelitis"." World Health (2013).