Animal Experimentation For Scientific Research - 2520 Words

Animal Experimentation for scientific research is a contentious issues and the subject of much debate. On one hand it is considered morally wrong to use animal solely for human benefit. On the other hand, removing animals, completely from the lab would impede any understanding of health, disease and consequently affect the development of new and vital treatments. Two essential questions needed to be asked is does it work and is it ethical? The first is easy : yes it works. However some would say there are alternatives to animal research , such as magnetic resonance imaging, computer models and work on isolated tissues and cell cultures and that animal testing is not necessary. Where there are reliable alternatives such as these, we use†¦show more content†¦Currently, the law in the United Kingdom states that any newly developed drug or cosmetic product must be tested on two mammals, one of which must be a large non-rodent. However, since the Animals Act of 1986 the law insists that no experiment may be carried out if a suitable alternative is available. Animal Experiments now requires three Home Office Licenses- one for the institution, one for the scientist and one for the project. The scientists must clearly state the potential benefits of the experiment that is being carried out and that there is no other beneficial alternative available for the specific experiment. Random inspections to the site and scient ists are mandatory to evaluate the intention of the institution undertaken by leading authorities which are mainly the Home Office. There is little talk of experimentation these days in the media and press even though they are continuing at a rapid rate and if they are mentioned at all, they are expressed as doing no harm to the animals. Animals are not affected by human illnesses caused by man s unhealthy lifestyle such as alcoholism and drug addictions which plague our society. Consequently, each animal used in experiments must be first made ill with the desired disease. Diabetes is caused by injecting poison to kill the cells of the pancreas. Heart Attacks are caused by constrictions of the coronary