Every day, animals such as rabbits, chimpanzees, and mice take part of medical experimentation. “Chimpanzees share 99% of their DNA with humans, and mice are 98% genetically similar to humans. The United States and Gabon are the only two countries that allow experimentation on chimpanzees. ” (The Jane Goodall Institute of Canada). What people don’t understand is that these animals contribute to medical discoveries regarding human health.
Animals should be used for medical experimentation because they contribute to many life-saving cures and treatments, they are similar to human beings in many ways, animals are the only organisms other than humans who we can experiment on, and the animals themselves benefit from the result of animal testing. Animals that are put forward to medical experimentation contribute to cures and treatments that have saved many lives. The California Biomedical Research Association states that “nearly every medical breakthrough in the last 100 years has resulted directly from research using animals. (California Biomedical Research Association).
Animals that are used for these tests have contributed incredible discoveries on unimaginable areas starting on Cancer, HIV/AIDS, Heart Disease/Stroke, Diabetes, Birth Defects, and Spinal Cord Injuries. Animal testing has made medical discoveries to go from antibiotics to blood transfusions, from dialysis to organ-transplantation, and vaccinations to chemotherapy. These advancements have been made thanks to these animals that are being tested on instead of humans. Basically every modern-day discovery that has been made is because of these animals.
Every cure and treatment is based on knowledge attained through research with animals. They allow us humans to not go through pain and suffering as we would if they did not test on them. Thanks to the testing on animals, many diseases such as polio and many others that have killed millions of people and they are either treatable with vaccines or have been wiped out altogether. Immunizations against mumps, rubella, diphtheria, polio, and hepatitis have saved countless lives, and the survival rates from many major diseases and surprisingly high, thanks to the discovery of new drugs and surgical procedures.
According to the American Cancer Society, “the fight against cancer has seen 24 significant medical advances in the past 30 years. ” (Trull). In this article, Trull states that thanks to animal experimentation we have seen advancements in cancer with about 24 patients. This has happened in the past 30 years and as much time as this might seem, it is an incredible advancement in medicine. Animals that are used for medical research are similar to us humans in many ways. Humans are closely related to the great apes of the Hominid family which includes orangutans, chimpanzees, and gorillas. “Humans share 98. percent of their DNA with chimpanzees.
Humans and gorillas share 98. 4 percent of their DNA. Humans and monkeys share approximately 93 percent. ” (Garrett-Hatfield). Not only are humans similar to apes, and monkeys, but they are similar to dogs, mice, and chickens as well. Dogs share their DNA with humans. For this reason researchers prefer to test with them human diseases concerning Retinal disease, and Cataracts. These eye studies are vital for humans to discover because sight is important to human life. Dogs are also being examined and tested for cancer, and allergies to find successful treatment for humans.
You might ask yourself, “Why is this important? ” When scientists perform these experiments on animals, it is important to find animals that have the same DNA and genetic material as us humans. The tests conducted are expected to work well on humans and if animals are not the same towards humans, then the discoveries and treatments would not have worked for us. Think about what would happen if we did not have these animals to test on. Who would we do all these experiments to? Humans would have to be tested on and even killed to find cures and treatments.
Some experiments require numerous subjects of the same weight or genetic makeup or require special diets or physical environments; these conditions make the use of human subjects difficult or impossible. ” (Harnack). Not only are animals the only biological organisms that can be tested on that are relatively close to humans, but they are the only logically best fitted to be so. Animals have more advantages for testing than humans, for example rats can produce litters of babies that take a few weeks to mature. While in the other hand a human takes nine months to have at minimum one child (assuming it is not dominant trait of twin genes).
Humans have these sorts of limitations that make them less effective to tests than animals. Without animals there is simply no other test subject to experiment on than other human beings. If we experiment to save humans life’s but we kill tens or hundreds before we find a cure to save one then what good would that do for humans. Animals that are being experimented on also benefit from the findings of cures and treatments. You might think that animals that are tested on are simply being hurt. What you do not know is that these animals have helped to find cures for their own species.
Dogs have been tested on to find a cure for rabies. Although a clear cure was not found, scientists found a vaccine to help control it. Also, preventive treatments for cattle diseases have been available for them because of animal research. Without these animals being tested on and finding cures for animal diseases, many people would be affected by this. If cattle start perishing, for example, farmers would lose money because they get money of their cattle. And if dogs did not help find a cure for rabies, they themselves would be dying off slowly and painfully.
Animal research has also been integral to the preservation of many endangered species. The ability to eliminate parasitism, treat illnesses, use anesthetic devices, and promote breeding has improved the health and survival of many species. (Medicine, Council and Research). Animal experimentation is flawed, and most of the time they waste the lives of the animal subjects. The majority of animals that go through the trials used in research are killed during or after these trials. Many animals suffer during the studies; the lives of animals are routinely sacrificed with sometimes have no gain in research.
Animals do not have the cognitive ability or moral judgment that humans do and because of this they have been treated differently than humans by nearly every culture throughout recorded history. If we granted animals rights, all humans would have to become vegetarians, and hunting would need to be outlawed. ” (Machan). Machan clearly has a great expert opinion on the view about animals having no rights. It is true that animals sometimes die during experimentation, but researchers and scientists have to learn by trial and error. Not every single experiment conducted can have a positive or health breaking effect.
You have to test every time with every possible angle because you learn more from your errors. I support animal experimentation for the fact that scientists who are trying to find cures and treatments have to experiment on something rather than on humans. Animal experimentation serves to our benefit and without it our advancements in medicine and in treatments would not have been possible. Let’s inform ourselves that the result of these experiments can turn out to our benefit. Not only does it help us as humanity but it also helps us find cures for the animals as well. We have to know that we do not do this for ourselves only.
