Ethical Consideration for the Laboratory-Based Studies on Animals - Essay Example

Animal Behaviour ‘Ethical consideration for the laboratory based studies on animals’ Medical Researchers need to device methods and drugs to combat diseases. They need to ascertain that a particular drug is safe for human use and they need to record any harmful effects it can cause in a human being, for these reasons and more a lot of experiments are need to be done on living organisms. Experimenting on animals is necessary when it unethical and impractical to experiment on humans. However, it is established that a lot of these experiments cause pain and sufferings to the animals and reduces their quality of life. It is morally wrong to cause such sufferings to the animals when there are ways to avoid them. Nowadays much debate has gone underway, and it is instituted that in-humane ways and unnecessary experimentation on animals should be avoided at all costs. Lots of commissions, laws and animal rights activists have emerged over the course of time, and they have educated human’s psychology as well as provided safe havens to the naive animals. Nevertheless, animal testing is still being done widely, since it is beneficial and in so many ways the gain the human gets out of these experiments in fighting and eradicating the diseases from the face of the earth is beyond explanation. It is this very trait that has enabled human to invent new surgical methods and in finding cures for many a diseases through drugs and their administration, that the study and experimentation on animals can never be completely ruled out. Better still, we have found a number of ways to assist the animals, and to protect them against any painful and in humane experiments (APA, 2013). Nowadays, scientists are encouraged to follow a set of procedure which is most commonly called the Three ‘R’s of animal research, they are Reduction, Refinement and Replacement. They are described as; Reduction: Reducing the quantity of animals used for experimentation, by devising better experimenting ways, and analyzing previous data and sharing ones research details openly so that other researchers can benefit from it. Refinement: Refining the way an experiment is carried out so that the animal’s suffering can be reduced, and by providing better health and living conditions. Replacement: Replacing animal testing to other alternative methods, such as living organism’s cell or tissue can be used instead of the whole animal, testing via computer modules or experimenting on human volunteers (BBC, 2014). It is a common misconception that animal testing is done to ensure that a certain drug is safe and effective for human beings, in fact animal testing is done just to ensure whether it can be tested on humans or not. In a way, it’s just a first step toward finding the cure, first a drug is tested on animals when it passed a test of certain degree, it is then given a trial and it is then tested on humans. It is long and tiresome process which involves lots of patience but the fruit of this painful process has given us all a ray of hope in fighting against lots of diseases. Innumerous deadly diseases are completely eradicated from the face of this earth only through research, experimentation and tests. Animal testing has been an integral part of these revolutionary discoveries. The sufferings and sacrifices of animals have not gone wasted. Diseases like Heart Diseases, HIV/AIDS, Cancers, and Bacterial Infections are studied and their cure and surgeries devised based on the experimentation and testing done on animals. For example the studies that have been done on dogs, base our most understanding of heart diseases nowadays. Diagnosis techniques needed for heart diseases such as cardiac catheters, electrocardiography, angiograms and measurements of blood flow, as well as the surgical procedures required for cardiac treatment such as angioplasty, heart transplants and bypasses done nowadays are all thanks to the successful experimentations done on dogs. Although the cure for retroviruses that causes HIV is not known as yet, but we now understand it more clearly and studies are still underway, one day we will be able to combat against this crucial disease as well. Similar virus was studied in chicken, mice, cats and monkeys. Like wise, the understanding of how cancer virus develops and spreads was most clearly learned through the studies done on chickens. We learned how this virus causes tumors and how this tumors are treated by hormone treatment which can limit the growth of such tumors was learned through studies done on rats, mice, rabbits, cats, chickens, and monkeys. Treatments curing cancers such as chemotherapy, laser and radiation treatments, as well as surgical procedures were all learned through procedure done on rats, dogs and monkeys (APS, 2014). In contrast to above mentioned health benefits that are gained through animal experimentation, Animal right activists as well ethicist are very vocal against these experiments and tests. It is suggested by these organizations that millions of animals are being kept in cold and barren cages, where the quality of life is pathetic and they are being subjected to barbaric experimentation in laboratories, universities, pharmaceutical companies and government agencies (PETA, 2014). In a way, they are right in fighting this fight, apart from the immense health benefit we gain from these experimentation, we should avoid all such methodologies and practices that involve animal testing which doesn’t result in medical advancements. Practices such as university and school based animal di-sectional procedures which are carried out only to teach students, for this computer simulations can easily be done which can not only safe animals but can also be very economical. Other than that, animal testing done for the development of cosmetic products, where not only animals are tested upon but certain products also use oils and ingredients derived from animals themselves should be avoided and banned. These procedures are simply abusive (NCB, 2014). The Alternative Methods that can be adopted to avoid testing on animals comprises of; Vitro Testing: These are modern methods of testing in which testing are done on human cells and tissues, and not only it replaces painful animal testing but it shows better results and are more reliable since they are directly being tested on human cells and these tests can readily advise us about the human cells and tissues behavior against any laboratory experimentation needed for the medical, cosmetic or toxicity testing. In-Silicon Modeling: These are advanced computer module testing which replaces the animal testing in most of the cases nowadays. Researchers have developed such computer simulators which can very accurately predict the effects of a particular drug on human body based on these models. Quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) are described as computer based testing which can suggests a drugs usefulness based on previous studies on similar substances. Animal rights activist actively vouch for these procedures to replace as much of animal testing as possible. Human Volunteers: Since the purpose of every testing done on animals is to benefit human in one or the other, it is best if the similar testing are done directly on humans, moreover if a drug is not suitable for a human being it will be cured then and there without going through the high cost laboratory experiments on animals. A new drug is tested in very small quantity on a human volunteer, who is kept under close monitoring and any side effects can be taken care of easily with proper and modern medical care. Scientist have devised advanced brain imaging in which brain development and behavior can be studied safely on human volunteer without the gruesome techniques done on animals for the same purpose (PETA, 2014). Hence, it is suggested through studies, benefits, and alternative methodologies that animal testing can be reduced to as low as possible, but they cannot be rule out completely. humans experiments on animals not because ‘they can’ but because ‘they have to’, it is these very tests which have educated us in combating life threatening diseases, and devise vaccines for the eradication of other fatal diseases. We are in a far better position, health and medical procedure wise, as we were a century ago; it is all because of animal experimentation and our scientist’s hard work. Government on the other hand, is also very compassionate towards animal’s right protection, animal testing is not preferred until and unless it becomes mandatory. Morally speaking if we can safe an animal by not testing on it the question is, are we harming a human being by not finding a cure of his disease which can be devised by such experimentation? The need of the moment is that we have to devise other alternative methods, which are workable thanks to our advanced technologies, so as to avoid as much of animal experimentation as possible. European Union in 2008 has proposed a directive for animal protection which are used in experimentation, it advocates the theory of three Rs as mentioned above as well as it has made it compulsory to require a an ethical review beforehand before the experimentation for the welfare of animals, it is suggested that animals should be bred separately so that their organs and tissues can be used for testing, it also proposed that second or older generation animals should be used to avoid wild animals exhaustion. In line to above proposals, it has proposed ban on the testing; done on great apes, chimpanzees and orangutans (BBC, 2014). Testing on animals is notorious for being un-ethical, it is in most cases not a matter of choice but a matter of well being and beneficiary for the human race. We should just have one perspective, and we as human should all stand by it, that animal experimentation should be carried out if and only if there is no other alternatives available, if it involves life threatening situations for human beings and if it can be done without harming the animal. References APA. (2013). American Pysciological Association, Guidelines for Ethical Conduct for the Care of Nonhuman Animal Testing, Web April 23, 2014 APS, American Physiological Society. (2014). Why do Scientists Use Animals in Research, Web BBC, Ethics Guide; Experimenting on animals, Web MRC (2014). Medical Research Council, Use of Animal in Medical Research, Web NCB. (2014). Nuffield Council Of Bio Ethics, Ethical Issues, Web PETA, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals; Alternatives for Animal Testing, Web April 23, 2014 PETA.(2014). People for Ethical Treatment of Animals; Animals Used for eExperimentation, Web Read More