t a c e n d a

“Being human is given. But keeping our humanity is a choice.” This is an anonymous quote that can be related to many different topics. But in this blog, let me relate this quote to a certain one: animal testing.

Animal testing refers to the procedures or methods done to animals for medical purposes, biological researches, and efficiency of substances. Scientists believe that this a logical way to save lives because the genetic and biological components of humans and animals are quite similar. But if I were to ask you, with all our fast-paced technological advancements, is animal testing still that necessary?

Throughout history, animals have been used for biomedical researches. From the early Greek physician-scientists Aristotle and Erasistratus, to the Arab physician Ibn Zuhr of the twelfth century. And because of this, scientists argue that animal testing was proven to be most effective as it is the oldest and most prevalent known yet. They also support their claims through facts such as chimpanzees share 99% of their DNA with humans, mouses are 98% genetically similar to humans and that mammals, including humans, are descended from common ancestors, and all have the same set of organs (heart, kidneys, lungs, etc.) that function in essentially the same way with the help of a bloodstream and central nervous system. (California Biomedical Research Association, 2013) But upon knowing that this method started at a time where technology was still evolving leads us to my first argument: animal testing should be phased out and be replaced by alternative procedures that are cheaper and more accurate.  

Although the claims stated above are reasonable, there are still a lot of researchers who went above and beyond the system just to concoct alternative and operative methods to replace this inhumane act. First, are the high-speed algorithms created by the researchers at Rutgers University of New Jersey which is a much cheaper alternative that can obtain data from online chemical databases. This helps them compare substances and their possible reactions faster unlike the time-consuming animal tests. Though medicines like cancer and HIV drugs, insulin, antibiotics, and vaccines were made possible through animal tests, this alternative will help speed up the evaluations of upcoming vaccines such as the vaccine for COVID-19.  

The second alternative is the in vitro testing such as the Human Organ-on-chips. Harvard's Wyss Institute has created these microchips that can perfectly mimic the structure and function of human organs and organ systems. According to them, they made this life-changing step because animal testing is not only cruel, but also, tedious and so much more expensive. These microchips are definitely much more advance and can accurately recapitulate the microarchitecture and functions of living human organs, including the lung, intestine, kidney, skin, bone marrow and blood-brain barrier, among others. (Wyss Institute, n.d.)

Secondly, I would like to point out the fact that animal testing is cruel and inhumane. And as irrational as it sounds, it actually isn’t. Every year, about 115 million animals are used. This includes, mice, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish and birds. They are used for biology lessons, medical training, testing of drugs, cosmetics, and food. And unfortunately, most of them either die, or are held captive almost for the rest of their lives. During the testing, animals go through so much. They are exposed to drugs, chemicals or infectious disease at levels that cause illness, pain and distress, or death, forced chemical exposure in toxicity testing, food and water deprivation, short and prolonged periods of physical restraint, and killing by carbon dioxide asphyxiation, neck-breaking, decapitation, or other means. (Humane Society International, 2012) And these are just some of the ways they suffer. There’s so much more, and if this harsh act is continued, there would less and less of their kind.