The Pros And Cons Of Animal Testing

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“There is no doubt that the best test species for humans are humans. It is not possible to extrapolate animal data directly to humans due to the interspecies variation in anatomy, physiology and biochemistry” (“Alternatives”). There is no possible way to get a trial to be 100% accurate for both animals and humans. A trial that passes on animals may be lethal when tested on humans. The other alternatives for animal testing such as the microchip human organ which works and functions as a human organ, the human artificial skin tissue model which allows products to be tested to look for any irritation that may occur, the test tube method which is used to measure the toxicity of a product and lastly, using blood from human volunteers to test for…show more content…
Specific animals are preferred in certain areas. Dogs, typically young purpose-bred beagles, are commonly used in cardiovascular studies, heart and lung research, genetic studies, age-related research and so on. Cats “have long been a mainstay of NIH-funded studies of neurological, cardiovascular, and respiratory diseases, and the immune system”(Biomedical Research). Cats are also used in cancer research, genetic disorders, and eye, ear, and infectious disease research. Nonhuman primates are used in research on vaccines, infectious, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases, aging, drug addiction, and vaccine and toxicity testing. Rabbits are used to test the toxicity and safety testing of medical devices, vaccines, and drugs. Guinea pigs and hamsters, are both used a great deal in toxicity testing and as models for infectious, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases, and drug abuse research. Last but not least, both mice and rats are heavily used in vaccine and drug research and testing, and birds are used in research on organ development and deformity, visual impairment, muscular dystrophy, and nutrition, among other things. So within the 100 millions of animals used for testing yearly it is not just one specific animal, it varies from mice, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish, and birds and many other warm blooded animals. All of which are used in U.S. laboratories for biology lessons, medical training, curiosity-driven experimentation, and chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics testing. Within all variations of animal testing none of them are said to be 100% accurate when tested on humans. For example, animals used in drug trials were found to be 54% inaccurate, that is not than half. Animals used to measure to level of toxicity in a product
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