Animal Research. Is it Right?

Research on animals is important in understanding diseases and developing ways to

prevent them. The polio vaccine, kidney transplants, and heart surgery techniques have

all been developed with the help of animal research. Through increased efforts by the

scientific community, effective treatments for diabetes, diphtheria, and other diseases

have been developed with animal testing. Through my research I will prove that animal

research is very beneficial to medicine, and with the help of research many diseases can

be and will be cured because of this in the future.

With the help of animal research, smallpox has been wiped out worldwide.

Micro-surgery to reattach hearts, lungs,and other transplants are all possible because of

animal research. Since the turn of the century, animal research has helped increase our

life-span by nearly 28 years. And now,animal research is leading to dramatic progress

against AIDS and Alzheimer’s disease.

Working with animals in research is necessary. Scientists need to test medical treatments

for effectiveness and test new drugs for safety before beginning human testing. Small

animals, usually rats, are used to determine the possible side effects of new drugs. After

animal tests have proven the safety of new drugs, patients asked to participate in further

studies can be assured that they may fare better, and will not do worse than if they were

given standard treatment or no treatment.

New surgical techniques first must be carefully developed and tested in living, breathing,

whole organ systems with pulmonary and circulatory systems much like ours. The

doctors

who perform today’s delicate cardiac, ear, eye, pulmonary and brain surgeries, as well as

doctors in training, must develop the necessary skills before patients’ lives are entrusted

to their care. Neither computer models, cell cultures, nor artificial substances can

simulate flesh, muscle, blood, and organs like the ones in live animals.

There is no alternative to animal research. Living systems are complex. The nervous

system, blood and brain chemistry, and gland secretions are all interrelated. It is

impossible to explore, explain or predict the course of many diseases or the effects of

many treatments without observing and testing the entire living system.

Cell and tissue cultures, often suggested as "alternatives" to using animals, have been

used in medical research for many years. But these are only isolated tests. And isolated

tests will yield only isolated results, which may bear little relation to a whole living

system. Scientists do not yet know enough about living systems or diseases, nor does the

technology exist, to replicate one on a computer. The information required to build a true

computer model in the future will be based on data drawn from today’s animal studies.

Primates represent only about 1/3 of 1 percent of animals in research. But during the last

half century, research using primates has led to major medical breakthroughs, most

notably in the treatment of polio and Rh disease. Vaccines have reduced the cases of

polio in the U.S. from 58,000 to one or two a year at present.

Scientists are learning how the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) works by studying

its non-human primate counterpart, the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) in

monkeys. The SIV model is useful in testing drugs for AIDS. In addition, the HIV virus

survives in certain kinds of monkeys and although it does not kill the animals, it can be

removed from them. This may prove useful in testing an AIDS vaccine.

Researchers are studying rhesus macaque monkeys to explore ways to reduce multiple

organ failure following hypotensive shock, a loss of blood pressure due to loss of blood.

Researchers have hypothesized that damage to the organs occur within the first few

minutes after blood flow is reestablished, when a certain kind of white blood cell

attaches to walls of blood vessels and releases toxic substances. The researchers reasoned

that if, just before blood flow is reestablished, a substance that prevents the white blood

cells from attaching to the vessel walls were injected into the blood stream, it might

prevent the release of their toxic contents and avoid multiple organ damage. It is

expected that this new technique will prove effective in human patients.

Researchers are studying obesity in monkeys in hopes of finding a way to control body

weight. Scientist are also using monkeys to study Taurine deficiency, which causes vision

problems, and zinc deficiency, which causes growth retardation among infants and

fetuses.

Researchers are currently studying to see whether reduced caloric intake can slow the

rate of aging. This effect has already been observed in lower animals, and if it holds true

in primates, it would be a strong indication that humans might be able to increase their

life spans by eating less.

Primates have the same number and relative size of teeth as humans. Macaque monkeys

have been studied by dental researchers to link a specific bacterium to the growth of

periodontitis, which affects 75 percent of all adults and causes 70 percent of adult tooth

loss. A non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug, flurbiprofen, has been shown to be

effective in halting the progression of periodontal disease.

Since the 1920s, scientists have studied primates in order to understand their ability to

communicate. They have discovered that chimpanzees and other apes have the ability to

learn and use language. Scientists already have applied their findings toward developing

a special language for severely mentally retarded children, as well as young adults with

little or no linguistic competence, who cannot learn language as normal children do.

People should ensure that an end is not put to progress in animal research. Biomedical

researchers know that an animal in distress is simply not a good research subject.

Researchers are embarked on an effort to alleviate misery, not cause it. And remember, if

we want to defeat the killer diseases that still confront us, such as AIDS and Alzheimer’s,

cancer, heart disease, and many others, the misguided fanatics of the animal-rights

movement must be stopped. Think about it, it could some day be your life or your

children’s.

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