Introduction to Physiological Psychology

        A major debate occurring in science is animal research.  Since I am a biology major, I might view medical research a bit different than others. I am against unnecessary animal testing, such as using animals for cosmetic purposes.  However, when it comes to animal research being used to help come up with a cure for a certain disease I am all for it!  I believe animal testing is good, but only to a certain extent.  For example, using animals to help prevent or treat life threatening diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and AIDS is worth it since scientist are developing healthcare advantages for us.  Thanks to medical testing, the field of science has accomplished so many cures as well as vaccines to prevent detrimental diseases.  One of the top diseases being currently researched is Alzheimer’s disease.  Many abolitionists might be against animals being used to treat this disease however, this might be because most abolitionists do not know someone who has the disease or has never spent a whole day with someone who has Alzheimer’s disease. My grandfather has stage three Alzheimer’s, it is difficult for me to see him lost at times, not know what day it is, and sometimes repeat himself constantly.  Therefore, one major form of medical research I am for is Alzheimer’s research.  The cure for Alzheimer’s is closer than ever, since it was recently discovered that the degu, which is a relative of the guinea pig, shares a 97.5 percent homology with humans who have Alzheimer’s.  It is the only rodent to have been found to have similar neural Alzheimer’s markers to those in humans.  Animal testing is cruel to a certain extent, however without it many diseases would still be incurable today.  In my opinion, instead of abolitionists threatening scientists that are using animals to help benefit the world from infectious diseases, they should be protesting outside of cosmetic companies, since these companies are not curing diseases.

Below is a video that states why animal research is necessary in the development of lifesaving treatments.

I chose this video because I believe it makes an excellent point as to why animal research is necessary in the development of certain vaccines and treatments.  It states the comparisons of the amount of animals used for food in this country and the amount used for medical research, it states the 3R's, the minimal amount of pain animals suffer, and other great key points in animal testing.