Each year, about 100 million animals are used for both scientific and commercial testing. From its genesis at around 500 BC, animal testing has remained a topic of great controversy. Media organizations have exposed these practices and organizations have been springing up rapidly in defense of animal treatment, but is it really a question of ethics or a series of fallacies? Science has proved the latter, as animal testing is not only a vital contributor to sustaining the human population but also an important constituent to biopharmaceutical research.
Animal testing is a crucial component of medical research. Biologically, we are similar to the species that we test on, such as mice or rats, because we have almost the same set of genes. Their bodies respond to stimuli similarly to ours, which makes animal testing an important tool. One example is insulin; without animal testing, diabetics would not have access to their necessary treatment. In addition, cases of polio, a disease that causes paralysis and death in children, have been significantly reduced. Since the inception of a global vaccination program in 1988, the number of cases have reduced by 99%, and the disease is now found in only three countries in the
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Testing on animals has contributed to advances in medications for deadly conditions. Animal research was also helpful in the development of medical devices that would benefit the way patients were treated. Chris Abee, MD, said, “We wouldn't have a vaccine for hepatitis B without chimpanzees.” He also claimed that testing on chimpanzees is our only hope for finding a vaccine for Hepatitis C, another deadly disease. If we did not have animals to test on, millions of people suffering from these diseases would be left with no treatment. It is obvious that animal testing plays an important role in medical