We Need More Animal Research, Testing, and Experimentation Essay

We Need More Animal Research, Testing, and Experimentation    A life can be taken or created in a matter of seconds and with that has come the miracles of modern medicine. People have come to expect science to save lives, prevent illness, relieve suffering and improve the quality of life. The means of curing, treating and preventing diseases are not achieved by magic or accident. Medical advances are gained through years of intensive research -- research in which laboratory animals have played, and continue to play, a critical role. Opponents of animal testing are wrongfully determined that this process is completely unethical. Animals have been used for experimentation for around 2,000 years. In the third century BC in Alexandria, Egypt, the philosopher and scientist Erisistratus used animals to study the human body. Five centuries later, the Roman scientist Galen used apes and pigs to prove a theory about veins being full of blood and not air ("Animal Experimentation . . ." 74). Since then several experiments have educated man in many ways that wouldn't have been possible without the use of animals. The debate about animal testing started well over 130 years ago ("The Ethical . . ."). There is no doubt that the animal experimentation performed 100 years ago was cruel and unjust, but since then many changes have taken place. A century ago animals were experimented on without the benefit of modern anesthetics and painkillers, and since then several laws have been passed to prohibit inhumane treatment of animals. Virtually every major medical advance of the last century has depended upon research with animals. Since the early 1900's, 90 Nobel Prizes for medicine have been awarded. At least 60 of these were for disc... ...ts: Animal Rights. California: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1996. pp. 73-81. "Animal Research Helping Kids." Foundation for Biomedical Research. [online], Available: http://www.fbresearch.org/helpingkids.html, December 11,2000. "Animal Rights Myths FAQ." Animal Rights Myths FAQ. [online], Available: http://www.cix.co.uk/~embra/armyths.html, December 7,2000. Murrary, Joseph. "Animals Hold the Key to Saving Human Lives." Americans for Medical Progress Educational Foundation. [online], Available: http://www.ampef.org/research.htm, December 8,2000. "The Humane Care and Treatment of Laboratory Animals." National Associationfor Biomedical Research. [online], Available: http://www.nabr.org/pdfs/orange.pdf, December 6, 2000. "The Ethical Debate." Research Defense Society. [online], Available: http://www.rds-online.org.uk/ethics/index.html, December 11, 2000.