In research, there has always been
a debate if whether or not animals should be used for research experiments,
mainly because they can be helpful for finding the cure for many diseases, but
at the same time those animals are harmed and killed for this reason. But, have
you ever thought about what would happen if animal research wouldn’t exist
anymore? Would the cure for Cancer or HIV ever be found with the use of
computer models or other substitutes for animals? It would be hard to come up
with an answer if the closest things to humans are animals, especially mammals,
and they are banned from being used in animal testing.
I consider myself as a
“minimalists” person that tolerates certain kinds of animal research but wish
to prohibit others depending on the probable value of the research, amount of
distress to the animal, and the type of animal. Animals such as chimpanzee and
orangutan should be banned from animal research because they are put through to
much pain and discomfort and they contribute to a big part in our habitat since
they are the closest animals related to humans. Other animals like rats should
be used more for research experiments since there are more species and they can
reproduce more rapidly than chimps.
The use of animals in research has
been beneficial in treatment for diseases such as diabetes and polio described
in the article by News Discovery. According to Stuart Zola of Emory University
it is crucial to do animal research because “to not do animal testing would
mean that we would not be able to bring treatments and interventions and cures
in a timely way, and what that means is people would die.” What this means is
that if animals testing is stopped, the rate of humans being sick, and infected
with diseases such as polio, would increase tremendously. Not only animals are
used for this kind of purpose but also for organ transplant, such as the case
of a pig’s heart being transplanted to a human.
