In the world today, innovation has been the trademark of the century and there are improvements in almost all fields: technology, entertainment, transportation, even in healthcare and medical treatments. These vast changes are not the result of some magic or luck; there are reasons that these benefits have occurred. In the medical field, expansion is rapid. An internet article for the Healthcare Network states, “29 medical-technology studies were adopted to the NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio in 2010-11, a 290% increase on the previous year.
The figure more than doubles the number of med-tech studies adopted from 2007 to 2010…” What this means is that the medical field is expanding at a rapid level, and the reality is that there is even more room for growth. One way the medical field can create new innovations is the use of testing experiments on animals. These experiments are used to test products and medicines in order to make the products exactly as needed to perform to full expectations. The use of animals being test subjects for many different studies is objected by many; however, using animals for scientific discovery is beneficial and should be continued.
The issue of animal testing has been around since the beginning of medical science. It has been used to test for vaccinations, the effects of certain diseases, and even has been used to explain how certain medical problems occur. This debate of animal testing has spread worldwide, and has affected millions of people throughout the world. One reason that this issue has become increasingly controversial is because of the conditions of the animals. There have been more and more stories of animal cruelty throughout major corporations and industries, especially across the field of medicine and medical technology.
Many people now associate animal testing with animal cruelty. This circumstance has created the rise of a new issue in the future on ethics and alternatives for animal testing. If improvisations are not found for this issue, then larger amounts of people will begin to protest the matter of animal testing. Despite different beliefs about animal testing, the truth is that it is absolutely beneficial to society. The advancement of societal technologies has been largely due to the use of animals for testing and research. Without animals, there would not be the new technologies that are available today in scientific and medical fields.
Frankie L. Trull, the president for the Foundation for Biomedical Research says, “Animal research has played a vital role in virtually every major medical advance of the last century -- for both human and animal health. From antibiotics to blood transfusions, from dialysis to organ-transplantation…practically every present-day protocol for the prevention, treatment, cure and control of disease, pain and suffering is based on knowledge attained through research with animals”. The world would be decades, or possibly even centuries behind in medicine, which could create a medieval- like society.This primitive nature of community would create chaos, and many people could possibly die from lack of proper medication. This brings up a second point; humans are created dominant over other species, and should not suffer like them.
If Homo sapiens as a species are superior, then it is the right of humans to do whatever is necessary to ensure the survival of humankind. This survival method can include discovering new and updated variations of medicines to keep the human race alive, healthy, and constantly sustained.If only a few different species are put into possible risk to ensure the longevity of mankind, then animal testing is a worthy investment of our time, money, and other resources, including support. Finally, to the die-hard animal cruelty opposition, there is a commonly unknown fact about animal testing. The reason it is opposed is because animals are supposedly not treated humanely, but in many cases of animal testing, this is not true.
There are many new and improved ways to testing animals that are much safer and less cruel.For example, the internet website “Ethics and Alternatives” provides information about animal testing when it says, “Replacement means replacing 'higher' animals with 'lower' animals. Microorganisms, plants, eggs, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates may be used in some studies to replace warm-blooded animals. ” What this quote means is that researchers do try and find lesser animals to test projects on. This internet site also says that refinement is a process followed by testers to reduce the pain in the animals as much as possible (“Ethics and Alternatives”).
These are just a few ways experiments are created more humane, and the tests still show all benefits for humans. Animal testing is a humane and necessary part of human survival and benefit. Without these experimentations, humans would have little to no innovation in the fields of medicine and other similar products that are applied to improve one’s lifestyle. Supporting animal testing only supports exponential growth to humankind, and a little support goes a long way to find a new benefit to society as a whole.
