Jaqueline Estrada-Flores
8/1/2011
Cluster 7
Abstract
Animal research has a dark history in which animals were subjected to a lot of pain
and suffering. But its thanks to these animals that now we have drugs and vaccines
to treat many diseases that are a threat to society. Nowadays things are very different
from the past, animals are treated as humanly as possible and no animal is used in an
experiment if there is an alternative. Scientists are working hard to find more
alternatives, and maybe in the future animals won't be needed for the development of
new cures.
The History and Evolution of Animal Research
Animal experimentation plays an important role in many forms of research. This creates many
ethical problems in society. Many people argue that the use of animals in laboratories is
inhumane, but on the other hand is its necessary for the advancement of science and medicine,
which would then benefit humanity. But animals should be used only if there is no other way,
and there must always be a justification for animal use. “The use of animal models in biomedical
research...[is] likely to remain necessary until science develops alternative models” (Chow, 2).
What we today call animal research has its roots in ancient Egypt and Greece. And since then
it has progressed to what it is today. Vivisection, the practice of dissecting a living body for
scientific purposes, dates back to ancient times. One of the first vivisectionists known is
Akmaeon of Croton, who lived around 500 A.D. and who discovered that the optic nerve was
necessary for vision, by cutting it from living animals. Another well known vivisectionist is
Galen of Pergamon from the second century, he is known for his use of vivisection on living
animals to better understand health and disease in the human body, but he failed to identify the
major bodily functions, such as the circulatory system (Vivisection- An Ancient History, 1). The
Italian physicians Andreas Vesalius and his student, Realdo Colombo, during the sixteenth
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century sought to expand and correct some of Galen's findings. That's when science made big
advances since Galen. Also “in the early seventeenth century, the English physician William
Harvey used vivisection to discover the circulation of the blood” which helped expand even
further Galen's findings (Vivisection- An Ancient History, 1). The 17th century was not the
golden age of animal research though. An anti-vivisectionist movement began, with the
physicians Jean Riolan Jr. and Edmund O'Meara arguing “that the painful and violent deaths
suffered by vivisected animals...were putting the animals into an unnatural state that could lead
to faulty assumptions about the functioning of a healthy animal (Vivisection- An Ancient
History,1).
One of the first vaccines developed was against anthrax in the late 19th century. The vaccine was
developed by Louis Pasteur, who weakened the bacteria by heating it so that it could no longer
cause the illness. Then he vaccinated a group of sheep with it. To his surprise all of the sheep
survived. Later on he vaccinated the same group of sheep with live anthrax and he also did the
same to another group of sheep that had not been vaccinated against the disease. All of the
vaccinated sheep survived (Science, Medicine, and Animals; 9). This helped prove that
vaccination was safe and would prevent disease, which in turn saved many human and animal
lives. Animals research has also played an important role in the developing of drugs to treat
malaria, since scientists have not been able to develop a vaccine for it yet.
Cancer is a huge problem in society today. Annually 500,000 of Americans die of cancer every
year. Since 1971, when President Richard Nixon signed the Conquest of Cancer Act, there has
been an increase in the research for a cure, but so far scientists have not been able to find one.
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Both, human and animal studies play an important role in the developing of a cure to this
disease. The experiments done in rats and mice have had positive results, scientists have been
able to cure cancer in rats and mice but the medications just won't work on humans. So instead of
using animals, the National Cancer Institute now uses human cancer cells taken from by biopsy
during surgery, to perform first-stage testing for new anti-cancer drugs. By doing this the lives of
around one million rats and mice have been spared, and scientists have a better change of finding
a cure for cancer (PETA, 1).
Humans are vulnerable to many bacteria and parasites that can cause severe diseases and even
death. History is filled with examples of this deadly outbreaks. Cholera, smallpox, polio, and
influenza are some of the few diseases that have killed hundreds of millions of people. Our
ancestors turned to remedies and even magic to cure these diseases, but eventually they turned to
animals to help them to better understand the diseases. So why study animals to understand a
human disease? Scientists use animals instead of humans because humans are susceptible to
many of the same or similar diseases as animals. In fact humans have 65 infectious diseases in
common with dogs, 50 with cattle, 46 with sheep and goats, and 42 with pigs (Science,
Medicine, and Animals; 4). Also, animals can be genetically modified to enable the scientists to
breed them with diseases similar or identical to those in humans. “Genetically modified rats and
mice are an important new tool for researchers...[because they] are often excellent models of
human disease,” which is one of the reasons why 90% of all animals used in research today in
the United States are rats and mice (Science, Medicine, and Animals; 15-16).
Although there's a lot of advances made is sciences and medicine thanks to animal research,
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there have been cases where some vaccine or product works perfectly fine on an animal but has
terrible consequences on humans. For instance, Vioxx, an arthritis drug, was withdrawn from the
global market in September 2004, after having caused around 140,000 heart attacks and strokes
in the United States alone. The drug was declared safe by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, FDA, and it proved that animal testing is not always the best tool for the testing
of new medicines, because animals react differently to drugs than humans do. This is not the
only occurrence in which people have been affected by a drug that appears to be safe in animals
but harmful in humans. Many drugs that are supposed to treat strokes, for example: Cerestat,
MaxiPost, Zendra, Lotrafiban, gavestinel, nimodipine, and clomethiazole, have been found safe
and effective in animals but then injured or killed a patient in clinical trials. Despite rigorous
animal tests, prescription drugs kill 100,000 people each year, making them our nation's fourthbiggest killer. That's why sometimes animal testing is not always the best option when trying to
come up with a new vaccine or cure. In other cases drugs have had a negative effect on an animal
but has a positive effect on humans. Penicillin, the world's first antibiotic, was delayed for more
than ten years due to misleading results from experiments done in rabbits. If it had been tested on
guinea pigs, penicillin would have been declared deadly to humans since it kills guinea pigs
(Archibald).
Animal research has changed a lot during the last decade, and so has the public attitude towards
animal use in science. While many polls show that society approves and supports biomedical
animal testing, this same polls reveal that the people's support is dependent on high standards of
animal care (Science, Medicine, and Animals; 40). To solve the ethic issues of animal testing,
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scientists are trying to come up with alternatives to stop or at least lessen the use of animals in
laboratories. So far ninety five percent of medical schools across the United States have
completely replaced the use of animal laboratories in medical training with sophisticated humanpatient simulators, virtual-reality systems, computer simulators, and supervised clinical
experience (PETA, 1).
In response to the abuse of a lot of animals just to gain knowledge, the governments of many
nations have done their part to stop it and prevent it. The United Kingdom is the best example of
this. The UK was the first nation in the world to pass a parliamentary law that sought to animals
from cruelty. This law was called Martin's Act, which was enacted in 1822, and it prevented the
cruel and improper treatment of cattle, oxen, horses, and sheep (Protecting Pets from Cruelty, 1).
Since then the United Kingdom has continued to protect animals through the passing of laws. In
1986, the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, also knows as the ASPA, became a law. This act
provides for the licensing of experimental and other scientific procedures carried out on any
vertebrate animal that nay cause pain, suffering, distress, or lasting harm. It is still in function,
and continues to be amended to keep pace with changing attitudes and knowledge regarding
animal care and use. UK regulations are considered some of the most rigorous in the world, the
Animals Act of 1986 insists that no animal experiments be conducted if there is a realistic
alternative. Also in 1986, the Council of European Committees issued Council Directive
86/609/EEC. Its purpose was to eliminate the disparities in laboratory animal protection laws
among member nations (Science, Medicine, and Animals; 35). “Scientists continue to expand
their knowledge and improve their techniques to use the fewer animals as efficiently and
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humanely as possible. This approach is called the three '3Rs' and was created in 1954...the
concept of the 3Rs is reducing, refining, and replacing animal use” (Science, Medicine, and
Animals; 37).
The United States has, also, done its part in animal protection. In 1966 the first federal law
regulating animal research was passed by Congress, which was called the Laboratory Animal
Welfare Act. This act is still in operation and it's now enforced by the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service. Another federal standard that has regulated animal experimentation is the
Public Health Service Policy (PHS Policy), which was passed in 1985, and protects all vertebrate
animals used in research funded by the Public Health Service, which is most universities and
colleges that perform animal research (Science, Medicine, and Animals; 31).The government has
ratified many laws to protect animals and to give them the rights they deserve as living beings.
Also, some cosmetic companies have formed a coalition in which they agree to not conduct or
commission animal tests or use any ingredient that is tested on animals to keep their products
“cruelty-free”. The products of these companies can be recognized by the “leaping bunny” logo
they have (Science, Medicine, and Animals, 28).
Animal research has been around for a long time and has brought many benefits to humanity.
Those benefits include vaccines and drugs to help treat diseases and without these medicines
many humans would not be able to survive in this world. The problem is: is it right to experiment
on animals and benefit from the pain they are inflicted?
Jaqueline Estrada-Flores
8/1/2011
Cluster 7
Work Cited:
“Alternatives to Animal Testing.” PETA.org. PETA. 2011. Web. July 22, 2011.
“Animal Testing is Bad Science” PETA.org. PETA. 2011. Web July 23, 2011
Archibald, Kathy. “Animal Testing: Science or Fiction?.” Global Action Network. 2005. Web.
July 27, 2011.
Chow, Pierce K. H.; Ng, Robert T. H.; Ogden, Bryan E., “Using Animal Models in
Biomedical Research” World Scientific Publishing Co. 2008. Print.
“Protecting Pets from Cruelty.” Defra.gov.uk. Department for Environment Food and Rural
Affairs. July 1, 2011. Web. July 27, 2011.
“Science, Medicine, and Animals” National Research Council of the National Academies.
United States. National Academies Press. 2004. Print.
“Vivisection- An Ancient History.” Science.jrank.org. Net Industries. 2011. Web. July 27,
2011.