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Animal Research: A Review of Literature

Pablo Enriquez
University of Texas El Paso

Abstract
Animal research is a famous controversy that has been argued over for centuries between
various groups of people. This Review of Literature is built off of three questions I have
generated for research on animal testing. The first question (How does Animal Research affect
Society?) introduces the importance of what this kind of research has done for the society and
how it has the medical and science field what it is today. The second question (How efficient is
Animal Research?) discusses some arguments as to why some people think that animal research
is not reliable. This section also introduces some topics such as ethics, the 3Rs policy, and
examples of common arguments among different groups of people on whether animal research is
efficient or not. The third question (How do research groups receive funding to perform their
research?) is information on some methods people, scientists, and research groups use to receive
funding.

Animal Research
Ever since the start of history humanity has learned how to survive by conducting
experiments or in other words trial and error. Over time as humans became more intellectual
these experiments became more sophisticated, experiments that attempted to find answers to the
major issues of the time in history they were taking place. The most common type of experiment
was the Animal experimentation. As time went on new foods were discovered or created, new
methods of sanitation were developed, and new diseases and epidemics were encountered. The
advancement of technology, medicines, culture moved at such a fast pace that experimentation
was vital for the progression of the human race.
As it has been for a while, it is one of the biggest controversies that is argued back and
forth by many for the past century. One of the big controversies on this topic is should animal
testing be used for scientific and/or commercial use? As well as animal testing advanced and
progressed over time it has also become highly disapproved by large amounts of society. Many
believe that it is not justifiable, against religion, unethical, etc. Though opposing sides have
always argued with what animal testing has brought to the table. The controversy I will be
speaking about in this document is Is animal testing justifiable? and viewing this controversy
can be better looked at by answering the following questions:
1. How does animal testing affect society?
2. How efficient is animal testing than testing on humans?
3. How do research groups get funded to perform their research?

These questions are in regards to some of the most common concerns and questions asked by the
general public, and will help to better understand why it is pursued, what it has done, and how it
has been done. The primary research used to fulfill this document comes from survey results
done on the general public and by one biology major student, and observations made from online
debates, articles and videos.
How does animal testing affect Society?
It would not be completely factual if animal testing was said to be the cause of the current
status of bio medics and human health, although it has played a major role in the advancement
throughout history. Animal testing has been around almost as long as humans have, and spread
out across the enormous timeline of history are events, some of which are good examples of
when these tests have been useful as well as other times are not so good.
In the early years of animal testing dating back to late 1500s and early 1600s a man named
William Harvey conducted what must have been the most successful Anatomical Exercise of his
time, Harvey conducted experiments on various animals to provide an accurate description of
blood circulation and heart function. This opened the door to new studies on the human body,
how the circulatory system works, and new ideas of medicines and medical procedures. It was
studies and experiments like this that grew overtime and eventually lead to where bio-medics and
medicine stand today. In The Proud Achievements of Animal Research an article by the
foundation for biomedical research, it states that Animal research has played a vital role in
virtually every major medical advance of the last century for both human and animal health.
Almost everything in this world that has to do with the human body, whether it is medicine,
medical procedures, or even shampoo, has been seen through animal experimentation for safety.
According to the results on a survey I conducted, when people hear this statement the most

common reactions from the surveyors are that the animals are suffering and dont deserve it,
animal testing is wrong and is not justifiable, and animal testing is not reliable because it is
not the same as a human body.
There are many universities, research groups, and organizations that conduct animal
testing and would disagree to the suffering of animals during these tests. Professor John Stein
from the Oxford Functional Neurosurgery Group for example would be one to disagree with this
claim as he states on his visit to the popular television show on the B.B.C Network The Big
Question. Stein responds to the question Is animal testing justified by agreeing that animal
testing is justifiable for the improvement of medicine and treatments, Stein says that thanks to
the research done in our laboratory we were able to help people with Parkinson disease and
reading disorders by cooling certain areas of a monkeys brain (which he claims to be unpainful
due to the brain having no pain receptors).
As stated earlier that there are many others out there like Professor Stein that are
studying for the greater good of cures and treatments
for human diseases. The list of treatments, vaccines,
medical procedures and cures is exceptionally long,
some of which would be the first measurement of
blood pressure, vaccine for small pox and anthrax,
vaccine for rabies, discovery of pathogens of
tuberculosis, insulin, regulation of cholesterol, organ
transplant and much more and as time goes on the list

Photo depicting the early years of

animal experimentation and the
different reactions from by standers.

continues to grow. According to the articles observed Society has benefited greatly from animal
experimentation, one can look at the past and see that it has helped humanity overcome major

diseases like small pox, anthrax, tetanus, the black plague, and even increase the lifespan of a
human. Only about a hundred years ago the average life expectancy was to the age of 50 or 60,
today there are people exceeding a hundred years of age and it is all thanks to the impact of new
medicines and living habits that society lives by generated from animal testing.
How efficient is animal testing than testing on humans?
This question also resulted in a great deal of debate among my interviewees and online
articles. Those opposed to animal testing in general argued that since the bodies of animals are
different than the bodies of humans, any result acquired from tests would be inaccurate and a
waste of time, money, and resources. Another argument again by those against animal testing
argued that a great portion of people in todays world take supplements, vitamins, medications
and therefore since animals dont really follow these same health precautions it would be another
reason for an inaccurate result. Those who are for animal research argued that the body system as
a whole in another animal are different than human body systems. Although certain organs and
body functions of certain animals are very similar to those of individual human organs. Such as
Professor Steins research with monkeys, humans and monkeys have similar brains so Stein was
able to disable a part of a monkeys brain to see the effects on its ability to read which helped
create treatments to stimulate that certain area of the brain on humans. Though in my
observations of the online debates and articles the crowd that is against animal research usually
consists of animal activists, priests and foundations pertaining to wildlife while the crowd on the
agreeing side usually consisted of scientists, researchers, and people of high reputation.
One of the major concerns in animal research was the ethics taken place during these
experiments. Back in the 1500s when it first began, experimenters did not really have much
consideration for the test subjects well-being, they were just interested in what they could

discover from them. According to the article A Historical Perspective, Pasteur (A professor in
chemistry with interests in Biology in 1848)
identified causing agents of diseases such as
anthrax, streptococcus, and chicken cholera. Pasteur
did so by infecting numerous animals as well as
inflicting surgical wounds to test antiseptic
techniques and disinfectant products. No person
would have participated to be a test subject in an

Photo signifying animal vs. human in

animal testing.

experiment after knowing or seeing how these tests

were conducted. Which is why scientists or those seeking knowledge in diseases turned to
animals, as said in the article A historical Perspective it is much more efficient to study what
we can on animals than it is to sit and wait on human participants.
Although ethics has improved over time, it has led to an increase in the amount of
animals used in laboratories each year. The article Ethical and Scientific Considerations
Regarding Animal Testing and Research talks about a principle emphasized by William Russell
and Rex Burch, called the 3 Rs. The 3 Rs signify Reduction, Refinement, and Replacement
of animals in the animal research area. According to this article estimates suggests that over 100
million animals are used each year world-wide in animal studies. The 3 Rs serve as guidelines
for the ethics and those conducting these experiments, to hope that one day animals will be
reduced, refined, and replaced.
How do research groups get funding?
There are a few ways for a university or organization to receive funding for their
research, when it comes to funding it is pretty much how well the company or group can

advertise itself. One example given be the article National association to advocate for research
funding of animal sciences is to address a city council to receive a federal investment, this is
where the group or school tries to grasp the attention of higher departments and persuades them
to fund their research. These research groups can achieve this by stating that their research is to
better the community, better science, and better the children of tomorrowof course with a lot
more detail. Some research groups who already have done experiments and were successful with
them may have built reputations and can then attend conferences such as the well-known global
conference Ted Talks. A scientist named Gregoire Courtine from Switzerland attended a Ted
conference to present a project that he and his team conducted on curing the paralysis of a rat.
Gregoires project was a huge success and presenting it at Ted gave him a lot of exposure to
companies, big organizations, universities, etc. that might be interested in his research. This is
where a deal can be made between scientist and a possible future funder.

Conclusion
The advancement of the Science and Medical Field has benefited enormously from
Animal Research and has also been a major help to develop many cures, medical procedures, and
medicines to fight many kinds of diseases and conditions. Animal research proves to be more
efficient than human testing, simple statistic shows that millions of animals are used for
experiments all around the world and close to zero humans ever participate to be a test subject
for any experiment. This is where ethics takes a huge role in animal research, since animals are
taken advantage of for these experiments there has to be boundaries made for researchers so that
there is some respect for the animals. The 3Rs policy (reduce, refine, and replace) was made to
one day completely eliminate animals from animal research and replace them with whatever is
able to provide reliable results. Finding a replacement for animals in this kind of research would
take a great amount of time, money, and people. There are many scientists and research groups
that attempt research projects but can only do so with funding from a source such as a company
or organization. Any researcher can acquire funding with the right exposure and the skill to
advertise his work to the community and to possible funders. While animal research has shown
its usefulness throughout the course of history, it will remain a method for research now and in
the long run until a reliable replacement is found.

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References
1. Knight, A. (2012). Bias During the Evaluation of Animal Studies?.Animals (20762615), 2(1), 85-92. doi:10.3390/ani2010085
2. Ferdowsian, H. R., & Beck, N. (2011). Ethical and Scientific Considerations Regarding
Animal Testing and Research. Plos ONE,6(9), 1-4. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024059
3. Sun, S. (2012). The truth behind animal testing. Young Scientists Journal, 5(12), 83-85.
doi:10.4103/0974-6102.105076
4. Franco, N. (2013). Animal Experiments in Biomedical Research: A Historical
Perspective. Animals (2076-2615), 3(1), 238-273. doi:10.3390/ani3010238
5. (2001). The Proud Achievement of Animal Research. Foundation for Biomedical
Research. , 6.
6. Anderegg, M.D., Ph.D. C (2006). A Critical look at animal experimentation. Medical
Research Modernization Commitee. ,
7. Youtube (2012). Is animal testing Justified?. The Big Questions. , .
8. National association to advocate for research funding of animal sciences.
(2012). Southwest Farm Press, 39(16), 14.

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Survey Responses
Sarah Valadez
1) animal testing hinders science and research from looking at alternative and maybe better
methods, for cures ect.
2) it's not as efficient
3) I dont agree with commercial use testing
4) If you have to test it on animals then that means it isn't safe enough for humans in the long
term

Benjamin Gandara
1) it does because it helps discover a possible cure for an illness humans are facing
2) it is just as efficient as testing on humans because anatomically we all have similar bodily
functions and reactions towards certain situations
3) I do not agree with animal testing, however, I do see it as a necessity to understanding new
discoveries in the medical field.

Adam Lara
1.) With animal testing we can set-up a control group allowing us to determine through research
what may or may not be the affects of an illness and see what drugs may help these symptoms go
away
2.) It is more efficient when it comes to testing, we breed animals in order to test on, allowing us
to gather more data frequently then having to wait on volunteers to do testing on, not to mention
if the results are fatal, it would very much put an end to the research project
3.) I do agree with animal testing. scientific use, commercial is just a waste
Chris Lazos
1. Animal testing helps in researching and testing vaccines against harmful and deadly diseases
or infections.
2. Testing on animals allows researchers to see what effects a product can have on an organic
being similar to a human so that human testing is not needed which can cause harm to a
person.
3. Yes, I agree to animal testing, because testing on an animal is safer then risking a human
being's life. Yes for scientific use but for commercial I think there could be other ways of
testing commercial products such as beauty products

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Ashley Gonzalez
1) Since certain animals have genes close to ours, we can use animals to rest for products
and medication.
2) Animal testing is done as a trial to see the side effects of drugs or products before
being given to the general public. Human testing can be flawed, as some people sign up
for multiple clinical trials for multiple test studies on medication.
3) I do not agree where animals have to be tested as animals do suffer and feel pain. I do
not agree with animal or human testing
Joseph Dehart
Well animal testing affects society's ills by having thousands of pharmaceutical drugs out there
thanks to the testing we have these drugs to treat for these diseases. Now yeah if you go PETA
on me than it is animal abuse and I do not agree with a bunch of the methods used for research
but it is kinda necessary for development of future medicine. For example a damn vaccine for
Ebola would be nice right now
Lydia Mora
1) Animal testing helps find cures for the new diseases we encounter every year.
2) I think it is very efficient. So far many medications have proven to be effective on people
after trying them on animals.
3) I do agree on animal testing. Because my husband was cured from cancer by trying a
medicine that had already been tested on animals. I agree with animal testing for
scientific use.
4) Scientific

Jaime Enriquez
1) I guess in some ways it does help, because scientists discovered how to cure certain diseases by
studying and testing them.
2) When it comes to health animals are able to resist or recuperate better than humans and certain
animals create their own means of healing or curing themselves. As for house hold products it is
not efficient cause then you injure or kill the animal or even inhumanely torture.
3) I do not agree with it because there are better means of testing then these. Meaning instead of
testing on animals many companies are testing microorganisms.

4) For commercial absolutely not and only for certain scientific studies.

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Mariana Ponce
1. Animal testing helps to create and perfect medicines that can improve diseases
2. It is not more efficient because animals are not humans and they have different reactions to
things than humans do so it does not adequately represent how people would react to
substances
3. No because from an animal standpoint it is unfair to potentially harm them physically for the
sake of humans and also only human testing can properly show how humans will handle things
4. Neither

Juan Isasi
1) The effect is in favor of society because the progress of science has relied on the testing of
animals.
2) The structure of the body of some animals resemble some of the body parts of a human and
therefore they use different animals for different experiments.
3) I agree as long as ethics are taking into consideration.
4) Scientific