Alternatives To Animal Testing Essay

Alternatives to Animal Testing Throughout history, animal testing has been used for a variety of research and tests, but we never stop to realize the cruelty and inhumanity of their environments. Gandhi once said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” (qtd. in Hajar). Animal testing is unnecessary and irrational because we have the technology to replace the inhumane testing, which proves to be even more accurate and precise with its results as well. With new technologies such as cell cultures, human tissues, and in vitro tests, we are able to replace some of the tests that cause harm and discomfort to those animals. According to Cruelty Free International, cell cultures, also known as
Pyrogen tests are made to “identify potential bacterial contamination of injectable products, implants, medical devices, dislysis machines, cellular therapies, recombinant proteins and IV products” (New England). Pyrogen causes an animal’s body temperature to rise such as when a person gets a fever. PETA reveals that researchers restrain rabbits and inject material into their bloodstream and then observe increases of temperature in their body. Through these tests, rabbits are prone to suffer from “fever, breathing problems, circulatory and organ failure, and even fatal shock” (PETA – “Pyrogenicity”). The American Anti-Vivisection Society claims that most data from these tests are inaccurate because age and gender differences play role in the outcome as well. One alternative that is currently being used is the Limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL) test, which utilizes the amoebocytes from a horseshoe crab to examine the body’s responses to pyrogen (AAVS – “Testing”). It can be used instead of rabbits and other animals, allowing them to escape from such harsh and cruel testing