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Roy Lazalde December 3, 2013 Professor Batty English 114A Vivisection Animal experimentation has been debated throughout many years due to the improvement of science and genetic engineering. The use of animal, such as mice and rats, today has benefited scientists research incurable diseases such as cancer. Medical testing has played a significant role for finding cures for human diseases. As much as animal activists want to replace animal testing with different technological alternatives it cannot completely replace the use of animals. Vivisection should be continued to be used for medical research and lab purposes. The use of rats and mice are common throughout lab in the United States and help diseases such as cancer and other incurable diseases. Mice modelsmice that have been specially bred for certain traits that are desirable for researchhave played an important role in cancer research, and will continue to do so in the future. (Mulder). The article explains how mice have developed though engineering and are chosen specifically to be researched on. Mice are explicitly being researched for cancer and will continue in the future until a cure is found. The use of mice in labs makes it more complex through research for their size and ability to be produced into a specific trait. In recent years, advances in genetic engineering have allowed the research community to customize mice with specific immunologic deficits that are

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useful in cancer research without waiting for spontaneous mutations to arise. (Mulder). In order for scientists to get these specific mice; animal experimentation enabled xenotransplants to develop, for selecting certain parts of the mouse to put them in another mouse for further mutations, and customize a mouse to be researched. Rats differ from mice in medical research due to being larger and can take more amounts of pharmaceutical doses of drugs. Currently rats are favored by scientists due to the rat model p53 that carries a specific tumors and trait characteristics that help biomedical research. Tumor protein 53 is a well-characterized tumor suppressor that is involved in cell cycle control, apoptosis, angiogenesis, carcinogenesis, senescence, DNA repair, and changes in metabolism. (Mulder). The p53 can benefit cancer research in the future because of current genetic engineering improving over time and perhaps find the cure within a mouse or rat. Animals are an ethical and essential part for scientists and medical research. Although many organizations that do not approve of vivisection because of how scientists acquire their animals it is not all factual. The vast majority of these animals [dogs and cats] were bred specifically for research. (Foundation for Biomedical Research). The article clarifies the myth that animals are taken away from owners or taken from the streets and are used for vivisection. Instead it shows how the animals being selected for research are specifically raised for medical purposes by the scientists themselves. Despite the use of animals, scientists are still making their first priority to reduce the number of animals, replace animals with other models, and refine the use of animals to be exact on results that are given. The method is also called the three Rs that most scientists are referring too in laboratories. Animal health and treatment play a vital role to research to help find the most effective results and are treated as well as any other human would like to be treated. The Animal Welfare Act is crucial to lab animals because it is a

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set of standards to keep the animals in a proper set of state and it necessitates the use of anesthesia when performing painful procedures. Not only do scientists want to continue to do further research on most animals for different results, but Americans as well. Most Americans care about their health and will remain to favor vivisection as longest results keep improving throughout the years. Although few Americans seek different alternatives for finding medical research it may not be as accurate as vivisection. Many animal activists not only want to stop the use of animals in medical research but also discover other alternatives to find the same results as scientists would find in animals. It has been suggested that several alternative technologies, including computer modeling, microdosing, and MRI scanning, will eventually replace the use of animals in medical research. (Speaking of Research). Technology is the prime replacement of animals, but technology does not give hands on results like animals would in research. Using computer modeling is limited in the usage of power to animals due to the energy given off by the computer and could only assist scientists while performing critical surgical experimentations. The use of MRI scanning is used today on humans to see any developing tumors and can perhaps work well on animals that grow tumor or cancer, but technology is yet again limited to what it can do and can only show the problem but not fix it. MRI scanning will indeed reduce the use of animals but not replace the need for them in medical research. Micro-dosing can be the last alternative to stop using animals and test on humans by measuring small doses around the human body. Although humans are being tested on there is always to an extent a human can take and provide specific regulations prohibiting the use of many pharmaceutical drugs. In contrast with animals, humans can only take a minimum of pharmaceutical drugs and animals can be injected as many as scientists please. Animals surely can be reduce in vast number but at the end cannot be all replaced.

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All of the alternatives present in the article reflects how technology has advanced throughout the years leading to new innovation in modern science and genetics. Although technology has advanced it has not lead to the replacement of the use of animals for vivisection. Scientists need hands on animals to research any spontaneous reactions that occurs while experimenting with different kinds of pharmaceutical drugs. The presence of having an animal gives a unique result different from any other previous animal. For example rats and mice in biomedical research helps scientists to study cancer and always suggest using live mice instead of technology because live animals do not give constant results and differ every time. At all cost scientists seek hard core evidence in order to continue their research with animals and keep receiving money for further research. Without the use of technology scientists would not have recorded the data and compare results fast enough in order to make changes in their experiments. The constant debate over using animals has led to current alternatives that can be perfected in the future, but until now the only reasonable method is using animals for experimentation and further research to find cures. Vivisection should be continued for medical research throughout many years to come and the use technology to assist scientists to develop cures. Genetic engineering continues to develop throughout the years, creating new animal specimen to be specifically used in a particular field by scientists. Constant alternatives are being sought out by scientists in demand to reduce or replace the use of animals in medical research. Animal experimentation enables us to continue using animals instead of experimenting on humans, causing controversy if humans should be treated the same as animals do in laboratories and not have the choice to be a lab rat or to be free in society. Vivisection is a key role for not influencing the use of humans in future labs and instead continue using animals for biomedical research.

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Works Cited Mulder, Guy. "Rats and Mice Are Important for Cancer Research." Animal Experimentation. Ed. Susan C. Hunnicutt. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. from "The Next Rodent Model." Drug Discovery & Development (8 Apr. 2011). Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. Speaking of Research. "It Is Not Possible to Completely Replace Animals in Medical Research." Animal Experimentation. Ed. Susan C. Hunnicutt. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. from "Alternatives?" Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. "Using Animals for Medical Testing Is Both Ethical and Essential." Fact v. Myth About the Essential Need for Animals in Medical Research. Washington, DC: Foundation for Biomedical Research, 2008. Rpt. in The Ethics of Medical Testing. Ed. Tamara Thompson. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.