Xiao Hua Issue 21

Page 84

ENVIRONMENT

ANIMAL TESTING DEBATE

By Audrina Wong and aSHLEY lEONG | Photography by Shanting Hou | Layout by Stephanie Ma & Natalie So

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nimal testing is the use of animals in experiments for scientific and biomedical research. In these experiments, animals are used as models to help advance understanding of the living body and how disease works. Procedures are performed on animals to assess the effectiveness and safety of medical products, cosmetics, household cleaners, food additives, etc. For many years, people have been debating about the ethics of animal testing and whether or not animal testing should be used for research and development of products.

On the one hand, some may argue in favour of animal testing : Study of animals has dramatically affected the understanding of human and animal anatomy and health, and disease development. Due to the fact that the basic cell processes of most animals are nearly homogenous, and the bodies of animals are similar to humans in the way that they perform many vital functions, including breathing, digestion, movement, sight, hearing, and reproduction, animal testing helps researchers test drugs and treatments more effectively and efficiently compared to other research methods. Human clinical trials are lengthy, and initial study on animals will give an early indication of the safety of drugs. Therefore, animal testing drastically shortens the testing period and drugs development process, creating a quicker cure to illnesses and diseases and produces results that are applicable to humans. Animal testing plays a vital role in the medical research field. It helps save lives and improve human health. Many treatments have been enabled thanks to animal testing, including cancer and HIV drugs, insulin, antibiotics, and vaccines. Animal testing helps reduce human harm and ensure the safety and efficacy of medical drugs and other products for human use. Although medicines are tested using tissues and isolated organs in labs in early

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stages, legally and ethically, they must also be tested in animal trials before clinical trials in humans can occur. Through animal testing, scientists were able to ensure that the risk of a drug are minimalized and will not cause harm in human trials, which is beneficial to the health and safety of human volunteers. Under the circumstances that researchers try to minimize the suffering of animals and use animal testing only if it is the only form of testing that can obtain results, it can be argued that in most cases, animal testing is morally acceptable as the great benefits to humanity outweigh the suffering of a few animals. Moreover, to stop the use of animals in medical research would be unethical, as that means humans will have to be used instead. That would dramatically affect the development of new drugs and treatments for those who are ill and in need. On the other hand, some argue that animal testing is cruel, unethical and an expensive way of producing results that are incompatible, ineffective and sometimes even potentially dangerous to human health : The amount of suffering and pain that animals experience during animal testing are so high, that the benefits to humans cannot provide a moral justification for performing those tests in the first place. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, animals are often forced into tests that cause them to suffer from vomiting, diarrhea, paralysis,


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