The Pros And Cons Of Animal Testing

Animal tests produce results which are not applicable to humans. Important cellular, genetic and structural differences between humans and other type of animals have prevented animal models from serving as effective models in order to find a treatment. Animals are not little human. Although humans share most of their genes with other mammals, there are still differences in how human’s body function. Small differences in an individual’s biochemistry can account for the drastic variation in reactions among members of the same species and between members of different species. For example, an experiment in rodents have not been able to provide information on human toxicity of Malathion, a most widely used organophosphate insecticide to control

Animal testing costs a large amount of money, as the animals must be fed, housed and treated with various kinds of drugs. Based on the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s 2014 budget in the United States, more than $12 billion was spent to support animal experiments. Five hundred thousand and 1.7 million dollar were used to experiment on dogs and monkeys, respectively. However, non-animal testing is generally more reliable, less costly and more humane than animal-based tests. Technology and innovation have taken medical research way pass the point where animal testing is the only alternative. Cell and tissue cultures, artificial membranes, new technologies to see inside the body such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) and sophisticated computer models which can be applied to conduct virtual experiments based on existing information and mathematic data of human organs, structure, functions and chemical reaction are all cruelty-free and more reliable than animal testing. Furthermore, human volunteer studies donated from both healthy and diseased tissues can provide a great number of corporations to assess dermal irritancy, penetration and allergic sensitivity. Human tissue can be either donated from surgery or from dead body. Such studies not only eliminate the need for lives, but also eliminate the need for confirmation because it is tested on human