Persuasive Essay On Non Animal Testing

In recent discussions of new medicine and cosmetics, a controversial issue has been whether animals should be used for scientific testing or should not be used for testing at all. On the one hand, many argue that using animals in experiments is cruel and ineffective. From this perspective, it has been proven that animals cannot contract some of the same diseases that humans can. This causes extensive experiments that harms the animals and wastes time and money. On the other hand, however, using animals in scientific research has been beneficial to medicine for decades. According to the US based Foundation for Biomedical Research, not only do humans benefit from this testing but other animals as well. In sum, then, the issue is whether animal

As we all know, humans are very different and much more advanced than animals. We do not have the same cellular or anatomic makeup; therefore, how can animals be adequate test subjects for products and medicine intended for human use? Paul Furlong, Professor of Clinical Neuroimaging at Aston University (UK), states that "it's very hard to create an animal model that even equates closely to what we're trying to achieve in the human.” (As Home Office Statistics Show UK Animal Experiments At Shocking 4.11Million, HSI Calls on Government to Increase Spend on Non-Animal Replacement Techniques) There are many diseases that animals cannot contract, such as heart disease, many cancers, HIV, Parkinson’s disease, or schizophrenia. In knowing this information, scientists try to mimic these diseases in animals in order to conduct their tests. These diseases cannot be completely “cloned” and are often only induced in minor strains. Because of this, the tests are not accurately measuring the effects on the diseases that humans can acquire. Animal tests cannot reliably predict the effects on a human being, rendering them a waste of time. It was written that “94% of drugs that pass animal tests fail in human clinical trials.” (Understanding Animal Research) Scientists are wasting not only time and money, but they are wasting the lives of animals