Throughout history, diseases have plagued humans. The plague, polio, smallpox, and influenza are some examples of the deadly diseases that existed. Humans have suffered for years and years, until cures were found. Cures for many of these fatal illnesses have been found through the testing of animals. Animal testing is an important reason that less humans die of diseases today than a hundred years in the past. Even with a history that has proved that animal testing was and will remain to be advantageous for future generations, people will still argue that animal testing cease to exist because of it being offensive. The testing of animals is acceptable for scientific purposes because it helps find cures and treatments of many diseases and there are currently no alternatives to it.
The testing of animals for science is acceptable because it helps find cures and treatments of many epidemics. Animal testing is the cause of many cures that saved millions of lives. Polio, a contagious virus that can cause nerve damage and paralysis, had an outstanding 350,000 cases in 1998. According to the UAR, a vaccine for this epidemic was found by injecting the virus into the brain tissue of mice and monkeys and then testing out the antidotes. It proved successful and lowered the number of polio cases to only 27 in 2016. This is one of the numerous cases in which animal testing had great benefits. Another example of animal testing finding an important treatment for humans is the discovery of insulin. After being tested on diabetic dogs in 1921, this treatment proved effective for treating diabetics and has saved the lives of hundreds of millions. Without animal testing, many of the advances made in medicine that improves the lives of humans would not exist.
Animal testing should be used for scientific research because there is no other capable alternative. Living creatures such as humans and animals have very complex physiologies. Other methods of finding cures for diseases simply aren’t as reliable as testing live animals. An “alternative” to animal testing is to study cell cultures in a petri dish. According to the CBRA, this process cannot replicate the interconnected processes that take place in the nervous system, immune system, and endocrine system. When testing a drug’s effects, a circulatory system is required to “carry the medicine to different organs” (Rogers). Although petri dishes prove sometimes useful, they aren’t as dependable as animal testing. Another approach to finding cures and treatments is through microfluidic chips. These are filled with human cells, and can create models of human structures. Although it sounds like a great idea, these virtual models have limitations, and can not simulate the behaviors of complicated organs such as the brain and the heart. Microfluidic chips and petri dishes may one day be an effective alternative to animal testing, but currently are not viable in finding cures and treatments.
Although there are many cons to animal testing, they are outweighed by the pros. People may argue that animal testing is cruel and inhumane, but animals are treated humanely when they are being tested upon. According to Nature Genetics, “stressed or crowded animals produce unreliable research results, and many phenotypes are only accessible in contented animals in enriched environments.” This means that animals being tested on must be treated humanely, or the test results would be invalid. Many people that are against animal testing are under the impression that many animals are taken away and being tortured. However, that is not the case. In fact, about 200 million animals are being eaten in the United States each year. Only about 0.05% of animals of this number are being used for animal research. Only a small sliver of animal deaths by humans are due to testing.
Animal testing for science is acceptable because it helps find cures and treatments of many diseases and there are no alternatives to it. Animal testing sacrifices the lives of very few animals, and finds cures and treatments to fatal epidemics across the world. The sacrifice of a few animals can save the lives of millions of humans and other animals. If animal testing did not exist, many diseases would still be responsible for the deaths of many humans. In the future, animal testing can greatly benefit us. One day, the cure for cancers and other illnesses may be found through animal research.