Health Benefits Of Animal Research

Animal testing is it worth it or not?

“We have moved away from studying human disease in humans. We all drank the kool-aid on that one, me included. The problem is that it hasn 't worked, and it 's time we stopped dancing around the problem. We need to refocus and adapt new methodologies for use in humans to understand disease biology in humans” said by Dr. Elias Zerhouni, former director of the National Institutes of Health (8 Expert Quotes Admitting That Testing on Animals Is Unreliable, page 2). According to statistics, an estimated 17 to 22 million animals are used each year in research, education and testing across the world. Of those animals, the majority of them are used right here in the United States alone. “According to studies

The discovery of effective drugs has led to many successful developments of medical advances through animal experimentation. “Practically every present-day protocol for the prevention, control, cure of disease and relief of pain is based on knowledge obtained-directly or indirectly-through the research with animals” (Primary Source Document: Foundation for Biomedical Research Extols Benefits of Animal Research, page 1). While some extremists believe that the result of animal testing and experimentation can’t be applied to humans, other researchers and physicians agree that animal research provides invaluable and irreplaceable insight into human systems due to the fact of similarities of human systems and those of animals. “The essential need for animal research is recognized and supported by scientists, medical societies, and health agencies around the world. Further proof of its validity can be found in the vast body of Nobel Prize winning work in physiology and medicine that has been achieved with animal models ranging from fruit flies to zebrafish.” (Primary Source Document: Foundation for Biomedical Research Extols Benefits of Animal Research, page 1). There have been many cases that have benefitted humans. An example of this would be a new pill that was developed to fight measles. In this case, animals were experimented on until the pill was able to pass a key test that was needed. In Chicago, experts and scientists worked together to develop a pill that would help protect against the measles. Scientists injected ferrets with a virus almost like the measles to simulate measles in humans in order to study possible cures. “In the study, all of the ferrets were infected with canine distemper virus, which is closely related to measles. When treated with the drug, known as ERDRP-0519, the ferrets survived the normally fatal infection and levels of the virus were