animal use in research

Parag Viradia
English
02/03/05

“Why should we use Animals in Research?”
In my psychology class we had to write a reaction paper about whether or not animals should be used for research purposes. So I started looking on the web for some content and as I was reading through the pages, I found out that lot of pharmaceutical companies use animals to test their products, which I think is unfair.
In this paper I want to consider both the side of the issue because on one hand it helps prevent lot of diseases but on the other hand animals are becoming victim for our benefit. My goal is to get opinion of my classmates and see what they have to say about it.
Animals, genetic make up is similar to that of human beings and that is why they are used in the research. It is absolutely necessary to use something for research that shows all the pros and cons of the product that is created. Animals are the only ones that have most of their characteristics similar to human beings. If the product that is tested shows adverse effect on the animal, one can judge that the product has to be reformulated again. Similarly, if the product works on the animal than it can be used by human beings. The most common product that is tested on animals is medication, because many people’s life depends on medication and if not tested before used will cause in loss of several lives. As Americans for medical progress says that “Animal research has been the bedrock for most of the medical advances of this century.” Further more it claims that Vaccines for smallpox, tetanus, diphtheria, polio, measles, lyme disease, hepatitis B and chicken pox, gene therapy, Insulin to control diabetes; are breakthroughs that were brought about through animal research.
In other words animal use in research is worth it, saving millions of precious lives from a faulty product. So I think there is no harm in using animals for research, but testing should be with animals like Rats and Mice. They are literally a dime a dozen.
On the other hand I see that animals are becoming victims for no reason. When, in pain, animals don’t act the way the human does this doesn’t mean they don’t feel anything. There are computers now which can give better result of the products effect on the diseases or whatever it is going to be used for. The computers are able to give every little information about the drug being tested. If the computers can give all the information why should we waste an innocent life. Animals should be used in research but there has to be some sort of guide line to it. Like for say animals can be used to test drugs for AIDS because the animals effect would be much more helpful.

Work cited:
http://www.ampef.org/Issues/IssuesList.cfm?c=15