Should Animals Be Used In Experiments and Tests - Essay Example

"Should Animals Be Used In Experiments and Tests" is a wonderful example of a paper on medical ethics.
Issue: Should animals be used in research experiments and tests in the medical field to help human beings develop safer treatment procedures?

Position: Animals should be used in research since they are the best alternatives for the human body based on genetic arrangements.

Premise 1: Animals should be used in research because it is morally wrong and illegal to knowingly expose human beings to a risky health environment so as to observe the course of an illness or a medical procedure.

Premise 2: Animals are the closest creatures that resemble human beings genetically; hence they are effective models for medical research.

Premise 3: Animals are used in research to protect the safety of human beings and the environment through numerous testing of products before releasing them for use.

Based on the various studies that have been conducted on the use of animals in research, it has been ascertained that animals should be used in various experiments and tests to help human beings understand different phenomena in the medical field. The use of animals ensures that no medical procedure is performed on a human being before its safety is approved through animal testing (Baumans, 2014). Therefore, this paper will expound on the three premises that explain why animals should be used in research.

Animals should be used in research because it is morally wrong and illegal to intentionally expose any individual to health risks with the purpose of observing the course of an illness or the outcomes of a particular medical procedure (Zwolińska, 2018). It is outlawed in any country to use human beings for medical experiments because they can cost their lives. The NAZI German used human beings during their reign to test various chemicals that proved deadly. After the Second War, those who performed the tests were held responsible and prosecuted for crimes against humanity. Since the use of human beings for experiments is outlawed and inhuman, the only option that remains is the use of animals who are readily available in plenty. For a long time, animals have proved to be useful in experiments since the results they produce are quite similar to those produced when human beings are used. For this reason, animals are widely accepted as the best human alternative in research experiments.

Animals are the closest creatures that resemble human beings genetically; hence they are the most preferable in experiments and tests (Baumans, 2014). Studies have shown that human beings and animals are quite similar in many aspects. Animals have been found to share hundreds of sicknesses with human beings making them easily usable in experiments. Besides, many basic cell activities are similar in both animals and human beings. Many body activities such as breathing, hearing, sight, digestion, and reproduction are not any different (Baumans, 2014). For physicians to treat diseases, they know how it affects a healthy body. Since animals are similar to human beings, doctors can infect them with various diseases such as cancer so that they can observe how it affects them from infection to death. With a clear understanding of the sickness, medical testing and procedures can be conducted using the same type of animals and monitor the effectiveness of different medicines. Once a medical experiment has been successfully carried on an animal, it can then be used to treat human beings. Studies have shown that successful medical procedures on animals are always successful when applied to human beings. A good example is seen in a mouse. A mouse shares a 95% generic similarity with human beings (Baumans, 2014). It has the same organ system performing similar processes and also suffers from the same sicknesses such as TB, cancer, and flue. Doctors have greatly used mice to experiment on brain tumors. The results were successful, leading to safer brain tumor operations on human beings. Therefore, the similarity between animals and human beings have been beneficial in experiments and tests.

Animals are used in research to protect human beings' safety and the environment through numerous testing of products before releasing them for use (Zwolińska, 2018). Once medical products or any other products produced for human consumption are manufactured, it is a requirement that they should be tested using animals before being released for human use. This protects the safety of human beings from harmful substances. In some countries, there have been strict laws on testing products before being approved for human use. In the United States, no medical product should be put on the market before testing it using an animal. The Food and Drug Administration requires that each drug be tested on animals even if it is developed using non-animal technology (Baumans, 2014). Such moves have helped protect human beings from the use of unapproved drugs, which can result in health complications.

With animals having been accepted and approved for use in experiments and tests, significant breakthroughs in medical research experiments have been witnessed. However, there have been numerous critics from animals' rights, who claim that it is unethical to use animals in experiments (Zwolińska, 2018). It is almost impossible to replace living animals with any other alternative; hence, the critics do not offer any helpful facts to back their claims. Studies have shown the benefits received from the use of animals in experiments outweigh any negatives. Conclusively, humanity would have been at the risk of perishing from diseases if not for the use of animals in experiments and tests.