Medical Research vs. Animal Rights: The Debate

Biomedical research relies heavily on the use of animals to test new drugs and medical procedures (such as transplantation) and to research biological ideas, such as genetics and behaviour.  The majority of medical achievements in the 20^th century relied on the use of animals in some way. Yet the debate remains whether or not it is ethical to use involuntary subjects for testing. Animal rights campaigners maintain the view that testing on animals is not only totally unethical, but also unreliable and outdated. [http://www.peta.org.uk]

This post spawns from the recent news that animal rights activists are now targeting trade routes into the UK. Lord Draysdon commented (the Independent reported [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/animal-rights-activists-halt-transportation-of-laboratory-animals-7565882.html]) that as a result of this new movement against animal testing, ‘Medical research will wither in our universities, and as a result, people will suffer and die.’ A notable list of companies have allied with the activists such as The Channel Tunnel, P&O Ferries, British Airways and recently Air France as reported by PETA. The question arising now is if medical research on animals will still be viable let alone ethical! It is undeniable that if animal testing was halted there would be an immediate resultant reduction in biomedical progress. Perhaps animal rights activists should be reminded that until another viable method of testing is implicated, research into debilitating diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and heart disease could be halted also. Yet their actions still convey a strong message to the public, and by attracting the public eye they increase awareness for their cause, putting pressure on research groups into finding new ways of researching.

Personally I am torn, my love of biology and nature is faced against my fervour for medical progress in treating the most debilitating diseases. I agree that it is unethical to test on animals, but what choice do we have? Even advanced computer models are not sophisticated enough to accurately predict real life experimentation, and certainly not as reliable as seeing the results ‘in the flesh’. How far should we allow ourselves to take the degradation of an animal’s life for a human’s? Until we can answer these questions, the nature of medical research could become under threat from persistent disruption from savvier animal rights activists.