Experimenting on animals is the dark side of science and research:-
Most of us try not to think about the animals that are experienced the horrors of testing when we buy medicine or cleaning supplies. I don’t know about you, but it would make me feel a lot better if we could stop testing on animals.
INTRO
more than 115 million animals are used for experiments every single year
but animal testing does not always show us the whole picture.
For example, toxicity tests on rodents are only 43% accurate at predicting problems in humans.
At least 85 HIV vaccines and some stroke drugs worked in animals test subjects but failed in humans.
HISTORY
a Neolithic surgeon performed trepanation on a cow in 3400-3000 BC. This is the earliest performed test on any animal. Probably it was performed on a dead cow in order to practice his skills.
Back in ancient Greeks in the 3rd and 4th century BC the first non-human testing was found, as documented, by Aristotle and Erasistratus.
Galen, a physician from Rome in the 2nd century BC, dissected pigs, and goats. He's known as the “father of Vivisection”.
Avenzoar and Moorish are Arab and Spanish, respectively, found to be individually testing surgical procedures before applying to humans.
These guys believe as founders of animal experiments. Although the exact purpose of dissecting or doing so is unclear.
PURPOSE of ANIMAL TESTING
Animals are subjected to tests for medical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and even cleaning products. Animals make good test subjects because they are biologically similar to us.
They suffer from many of the same health problems, and they have short life cycles.
This allows scientists to study the effects of chemicals over several generations.
The medical and pharmaceutical industries use animal test subjects to study and analyze diseases and disorders.
Animals are also used to make sure a drug, vaccine, or procedure is safe and effective for human testing. But experimenting on animals raises some ethical concerns.
INDUSTRIES TESTING ON ANIMALS
so industries that are required to test for the safety of their products are only supposed to use animals as a last resort.
The pharmaceutical sector has stopped testing on animals as much.
But not out of any love for our furry friends.
BRIGHT SIDE OF ANIMAL TESTING
animal testings have helped us in developing vaccines, medicines for transplant procedures, antiseptic, and blood transfusions. Countless discoveries are the result of animal sacrifice. Millions of lives have been improved or saved as a result of animal testing. Studies that use animals have played a role in the prevention, treatment of conditions like tuberculosis, diabetes, polio, Parkinson’s disease, muscular dystrophy, and high blood pressure, etc.
DARK SIDE OF ANIMAL TESTING
As mentioned above, only 43% of toxicity tests on rodents are accurate.
Similarly, VIOXX tested safe on monkeys and caused more than 100,000 heart attacks and 60,000 deaths around the globe.
Aspirin is one of the most common pills on the planet. It did not pass a majority of animal tests. While it is completely safe for humans, semi-toxic to dogs, and completely toxic to cats!
Once animals are no longer require for testing purposes they are gassed, decapitated, shot, or electrocuted and thrown away like garbage
EFFECTS OF VACCINE PREPARATION
all successful vaccines mainly relied on animal testings during the early stages of research.
These tests helped scientists to understand the way the immune system would respond to that vaccine.
And that is extremely important.
If we do not get ourselves into any other pandemic, we can skip this effect caused by preventing animals from experiments.
HOW TO STOP ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION
how about we cancel these unreliable, animal-torturing procedures altogether? Animals are being used to pre-check the side effects or advantages of specific medicines, drugs, vaccines, household products like cleaning agents, etc. if we get success in finding an alternative to do this job in a pretty humane way that does not hurt anyone feelings.
SOLUTION
newer drugs target precise molecular mechanisms, and the best way to study them is in Petri dishes.
This is also cheaper than using live animals
so, what would happen if we completely stopped animal testing?
Well, first we would need alternatives.
Luckily, we already have some.
ALTERNATIVES
Literally, no one can perfectly replace live animals, we have to go through a complex and long process to do so.
COMPUTERS
computers, yes, Type of device which you use on daily basis.
It may seem like an unlikely replacement for live animals.
But they could be helpful.
There are thousands of chemical compounds tests in online databases.
Scientists can use algorithms to get this information and compare the tested chemical compounds with new chemical compounds.
By looking at their structural similarities, researchers can predict the toxicity of the untested chemicals.
You will shock to know that advanced algorithms are 87% accurate in predicting chemicals.
That would be a great start. Right?
Wait a sec, it would not be good enough to release a new product.
After using algorithms, scientists and researchers would use other testings methods.
CULTURED HUMAN CELLS
they could move on to testing chemicals on cultured human cells that mimic the function of specific organs.
These are called organs-on-a-chip.
These techniques allow researchers to test new drugs on human cells without testing directly on humans.
This study on cell cultures in Petri dishes of labs will only allow researchers to the molecular and chemical interaction of chemicals with cells
MICRO DOSES
but I did not say we would never do tests on humans.
We would.
Now, before you panic, I am not talking about full-blown human body experimentation.
That is definitely not ethical.
Instead, you would volunteer to take microdoses of new drugs.
The tiny amounts would not have any huge impact on you.
But these bad boys would be enough in your body that researchers could study how the drug impacts your cells.
ARE THESE ALTERNATIVES ENOUGH?
But none of these great alternatives would replace animal testing.
Especially if we got ourselves into another pandemic.
All successful COVID-19 vaccines like Pfizer, Sinopharm, Sinovac, Pakvak, etc. relied on animal testings during the early stages of research.
These tests helped scientists to understand the way the immune system would respond to that vaccine.
And that is extremely important.
The animal tests make sure that the vaccines would not make the infection even worse.
VITRO TECHNOLOGY
so if we stopped animal testings, we would need advanced vitro technology.
Scientists would take some skin cell samples from people with specific diseases.
They would make the skin's cell act more like stem cells.
Then the researchers could convert those cells into any specialized cell in the human body.
So they would have a patient-specific model of a disease in a lab dish.
Eventually, we would start growing actual organs to study the disease and test experimental medicines.
This would be a much more humane way for cosmetic, pharmaceuticals, medical, and household cleaning industries to test their products.
And finally, millions of animals would no longer have to suffer experimentation for human gain.
WOULD IT COMPLETELY PREVENT HUMANS AND ANIMALS FROM TRAILS
It may sound odd, but the answer is yes?
When we develop such cutting-edge technologies, we will be good to go to save all species of Earth until and unless a court order the rights of Bear Organs and AI.
LAST WORDS
what do you say?
Of course, the other alternative to testing on animals would be to stop doing science at all.
But I don’t think that would turn out very soon for us.
May be grandchildren of our grandchildren will actually make it possible.
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