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Animal Testing: A macabre bane

Monkeys, Dogs, Cats, Hamsters, Mouse, Rabbits, Macaques, etc – the list goes on. It seems none of the animal species, except human beings, are spared from this. In some cases, human volunteers are also required to test the feasibility or effectiveness of drugs, cosmetics, etc. The only difference between a human volunteer and an animal specimen is that the former decides on himself/herself whether to participate in the experiment or not, while the latter is not that so fortunate. Every year millions of animals are killed in laboratory experiments. However, it would be highly imprudent and implausible to say that this kind of act is highly unethical, for without these experiments progression in the field of pharmaceuticals and genetic research would almost be impossible. But, are there scenarios in which these experiments can be done without the animals? Yes, there are: Computer simulated techniques, Cell Culture technique, etc.
Computer simulated techniques can be used for analyzing the effects of certain chemicals or drugs on simulated human organs or systems. In this system, pre-fetched data about the model/specimen is used to analyze the effects of chemicals. Also, this technique is highly suitable for crash tests wherein dummies can be used, instead of animals, for testing. Dummies fixed with motion sensors and load cells have a higher accuracy rate, since while designing these dummies care is taken to ensure that its physical features are very much similar to an average human. This is really useful because a better impact analysis can be done here. In case of an animal employed crash test, the mere superficial impact alone can be measured. In drug and other biological experiments, a computer simulation is not that effective, considering the fact that most of these experiments involve analysis of the human system in micro-scale, and in some case to the extent of DNAs. It is impossible to create a simulation system that is an exact replica of human structure. Thus the results of such an experiment would not have an appealing accuracy. However, for experiments that do not require bulls eye accuracy this method is feasible. In case if the experiment requires a very high degree of precision, we can go for the next method: Cell Culture technique.
In Cell Culture, cells are grown under a conducive environment outside the host. Research and experiments can be conducted on these cultured cells. The analysis of such an experiment can be done using high resolution devices like electron microscopes. This method is more accurate than the computer simulation technique, since it involves specimens that are living and resembles a real time biological experiment.
By the above mentioned methods, experimentation and testing can be done without harming or killing animals. Also, these methods are capable of yielding results very similar to those obtained from tests using living animals. Following these practices could save millions of animals that are brutalized and are subjected to macabre test conditions. Most of the test and experimentation centers are not ready to adapt these practices. The reason given is the requirement for an overall change in the working/testing environment. This is preposterous, as there are long term benefits on shifting to these methods. We can contribute, our bit to this noble cause, by ignoring products tested on animals. Kindly consider this and make sure that you don’t become a reason for killing an innocent animal.

Posted by harivis on 2009-04-06 05:15:29 | Rating: