Animal Testing Science and the Sub-Science of Research Paper

Animal Testing

Science and the sub-science of chemistry has provided some significant advances to society and the health and welfare of society. Throughout this history, animals have been used as components of these chemical tests and there is much debate about the ethics and effectiveness of this practice. The purpose of this essay is to describe how animal testing is no longer a viable option in many cases of scientific experiment and should be used sparingly if at all. This argument will incorporate differing attitudes about the complex nature of this problem and synthesize these ideas with a relevant link towards further understanding of science and chemistry.

History of Animal Testing

The problem can be difficult because it appears that throughout the history of animal testing, great advances were made in chemistry and other sciences. Scutti (2013) added that "n ancient times, scientists made use of animals principally to satisfy anatomical curiosity. Early Greek physician-scientists performed experiments on living animals. Herophilus and Erasistratus, for example, examined sensory nerves, motor nerves, and tendons in order to understand their functional differences." Only recently in the 20th century has society seen a drift away from animal testing. This new philosophy is firmly rooted in the ideals of consideration for other living things and denotes a new chapter in human history.A new paradigm is set that sets to reduce the number of animals used in experiments, refine the experiment to reducing suffering, and in as many cases as possible, replace experiments on animals with better substitutes.

Animal Testing is not Viable

Before examining the ethical aspects of the argument it is important to help determine of animal testing is actually providing any net benefit to science or humanity. PETA suggested the animal testing is not worth the time or effort. Their organization wrote "Most animal experiments are not relevant to human health, they do not contribute meaningfully to medical advances and many are undertaken simply of out curiosity and do not even pretend to hold promise for curing illnesses. The only reason people are under the misconception that animal experiments help humans is because the media, experimenters, universities and lobbying groups exaggerate the potential of animal experiments to lead to new cures and the role they have played in past medical advances."[footnoteRef:2] [2: PETA (nd). "Animal Testing is Bad Science: Point/Counterpoint]

This is a strong argument and may not reflect a comprehensive view,….....