The Ethics of Animal Research

Having participated in animal-based research at Regis University for three years, the ethical considerations of animal research have often crossed my mind, which is why I chose to discuss the history, benefits and tradeoffs, and future prospects of animal research. Using animals to advance scientific knowledge has been a practice for hundreds of years, and became increasingly common in the twentieth century (Rollin, 2006). Yet, there was no legislation on how to properly conduct animal research until the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 was signed into law (Rollin, 2006).

Many are pleased with the guidelines in place as they can continue using animals to advance scientific discoveries. To elaborate, researchers use animals because they share genetic and physiological qualities with humans, and possess the same aging patterns, just in a shorter period of time (Bédard et al., 2020). Due to these similarities, scientists can use animals to test new medicines or treatments, create vaccines, and develop procedures or surgical techniques (Bédard et al., 2020). Even with the increase in guidelines and legislature today, there are many people who oppose animal research. Some argue that even if a new drug benefits the research animal, it may not have the same effects on humans because of variables that the researchers cannot control and the complexity of human diseases, which cannot be recreated in an animal (Akhtar A., 2015). Additionally, breeding and housing animals is an expensive process (Bédard et al., 2020).

While there are numerous benefits and trade-offs to animal research, alternatives to animal models are being developed (Bédard et al., 2020). One of the more promising techniques is the use of cell cultures, where cells from animals or humans are grown in controlled environments. These cell cultures are used to further understand cell biology and are important because they contribute to the nonmaleficence biomedical ethical value. This is because alternatives can replace the need for research animals, inherently reducing the amount of harm done to them.

References

Akhtar A. (2015). The flaws and human harms of animal experimentation. Cambridge quarterly of healthcare ethics : CQ : the international journal of healthcare ethics committees, 24(4), 407–419. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0963180115000079

Bédard, P., Gauvin, S., Ferland, K., Caneparo, C., Pellerin, È., Chabaud, S., & Bolduc, S. (2020). Innovative human three-dimensional tissue-engineered models as an alternative to animal testing. Bioengineering, 7(3), 115. https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering7030115

Rollin, B.E. (2006). The Regulation of Animal Research and the Emergence of Animal Ethics: A Conceptual History. Theor Med Bioeth 27, 285–304 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s11017-006-9007-8