Studying the role of trust among the members of this scientific controversy can provide some information about the arguments of each side. According to Shapin, trust in scientists and the scientific community is crucial to life. Certain principles in the world that are held as fact today only arose because some claims made have been trusted for years. He states that “All those who believe that the earth goes around the sun, that DNA is the genetic substance, that there are such things as electrons, and that light travels at 186,000 miles per second are, by so believing, doing scientists honor” (Shapin, 1995). Shapin argues that because of this “honor” that scientists possess, they are required to uphold the trust and act in ways that are ethical …show more content…
Theory laden observation highlights that anything observed by humans is shaped and interpreted by their past encounters or culture around them (Scudder, 1997). In this case, the past experiences of scientists who approve of animal testing can be examined. According to researcher J. David Jentsch, animal testing has greatly improved the world of science. He declares that animal testing has allowed him to understand the mechanisms of humans even more, because “There's no hope for developing medicines or interventions or treatments for the brain and for psychological functioning until you first understand how the brain works.” (Collier, 2014). Jentsch argues that the information he learned from studying rodents has allowed him to apply the concepts to creating vaccinations for humans. In fact, animal research helped humans develop vaccinations against Polio, Meningitis, and Human Papillomavirus, as well as the development of Insulin injections that people with Type I diabetes rely on (About Us- Understanding Animal Research, 2017). This illustrates that the past success Jentsch has seen with animal testing has prompted him to observe new animal testing projects as necessary and