Animal Experiments cause a lot of suffering and are inefficient. Drug testing is notoriously slow, and can take up to a decade and cost up to three billion dollars. Toxicologists know information about poisons don’t transfer well between species, even similar species like chimps and humans. Information doesn’t come up in a way which is helpful for people. Drugs that show no side effects in animals end up causing problems in humans. The most notorious example of a drug which caused unexpected harm was thalidomide. It was tested heavily in animals. Even after it was suspected to cause deformities in humans; tests done on dogs, cats, rats, monkeys, hamsters, and chickens all failed to cause deformities. Deformities didn’t show up until it was tested on a very specific strain of rabbit. In addition, potential cures for human diseases remain undiscovered because the effects don’t show up on other animals.
There are a lot more efficient ways to gain information. Nowadays we have a lot of new technologies that make this even easier. It’s likely companies will want to make the switch on their own just because it’s more cost efficient, but companies which cage, breed, and sell animal, or animal experimentation devices lobby heavily to keep Animal Experiments funded and legal. First I’m going to talk about the older methods of research which we can always rely on, then, I’ll talk about the new ones.
First we have human testing. Because of the horrible actions of people in the recent past, we have strict ethical standards we need to follow. We need to make sure the participant consents and fully understands what they’re doing. We also need to make sure that they were not forced or coerced to participate in any way. Experiments must not inflict physical or psychological harm. We can however test potential cures or drugs using test trials. Instead of intentionally infecting people, we can study people who already have a disease. Many people with HIV volunteer for studies so we can find a cure for AIDS.
Many tests are done for things that are nice to have, but not necessary, like cosmetics or makeup. We literally have thousands of these products already. We would simply have to release a few less each year – or, if we release a new product, we can simply use ingredients we already know are not poisonous.
We have other methods that are more sophisticated. One is microdosing. This is when we test an experimental drug by giving people a very tiny dose of it one time. Then we use imaging techniques to see how the body reacts to it. Instead of cutting open an animal’s skull, planting electrodes, or inflicting brain damage, we can use advanced brain imaging techniques like fMRI scans to look at people’s brains to the level of a single cell. We can use transcranial magnetic stimulation to temporarily cause brain disorders for a short period of time, which we can observe and then quickly reverse. Not only does nobody have to get hurt, but unlike using animals, the information is actually reliable.
Another method is in vitro testing. This is when we combine human cells with some other device. We have ‘organs on chips.’ These are cells added to a chip to mimic the function or structure of organs, or systems of organs. Organ chips have been installed in 150 labs, and 17/25 global companies used by the FDA to approve treatments and vaccines for COVID. Producers of these chips have collaborated with AstraZeneca, and Johnson and Johnson to identify toxins for specific species. Organ chips have helped with research for diseases such as COVID 19, influenza, malnutrition, radiation exposure, and cystic fibrosis.
We’ve created three dimensional models of longs which use human cells to test the effects of chemicals, e cigarettes, and pathogens. A German based manufacturer called VITROCELL uses machines to test the effects of things like cigarette smoke and pesticides on human lung cells. The lung cells in the machines are fed a liquid blood substitute. Researchers can use human blood cells to test drugs for contaminants which can cause dangerous fevers.
Diptheria is a disease which creates poison inside the body. Drugs for this disease use antibodies to block the poison. We get these antibodies by injecting horses with the diphtheria toxin, and then draining large amounts of their blood. These drugs also have the potential to cause serious allergic reactions, and we have difficulty acquiring large stockpiles. Thanks to the funding of some research, we have figured out an alternate way to gain these antibodies, fully derived from humans, which can allow us to end the aforementioned practice.
Another method of testing are human patient simulators. These are lifelike, computerized dolls which can breathe, bleed, talk, shake, and die. For advanced training, we can use a doll called a trauma man, which is a realistic replica of a human torso which can breathe and bleed. It has realistic layers of skin, tissue, ribs, and internal organs. This is a much better method than having to cut live pigs, goats, or dogs.
Finally, we have In-Silico Modeling. These methods involve the computer. One method involves models which simulate human biology and show how diseases progress. Studies have shown these accurately predict how new drugs will react in the human body. Another method is called Quantitative structure activity relationships, or QSARs for short. These use the computer to make advanced estimates of how likely it is that a substance is hazardous, by comparing its similarity to other substances we know about and using our knowledge of the human body. Companies and governments have started using these instead of testing on animals.
In conclusion, animal testing is wasteful and inefficient, and information translates poorly between different species. We have other more efficient methods, and new technologies, which make gathering information even easier. Hopefully this article has helped you to rethink the necessity of animal experiments. I have some other articles which go into even further detail about why animal experiments are so wasteful if you want to learn more.
Have a good day everyone.