Writing About Animal Testing

The cruel treatment of animals has always been a sore point in the civilized world. Writers and philosophers such as Johann Goethe, Leo Tolstoy, Voltaire, and Mark Twain, chastised brutal scientific experiments on animals. Nowadays, many famous people bring forward the problem of animal testing. However, some scientists claim that such unethical experiments are conducted for the sake of good.

What do you think about it? There is a great opportunity to express your own point of view in the animal testing argumentative essay. This topic is definitely worth your attention. After all, the further development of science depends on this phenomenon.

The question of the admissibility of animal testing is a complex moral problem in the context of the relationship between humans and animals. Outstanding representatives of science argue that experimenting on animals is an indispensable source of knowledge, and without it, humankind wouldn’t be able to fight diseases.

In a research paper against animal testing, you may stress that this area of medical science represents one of the darkest spots of scientific progress because brutal experiments continue to be carried out to this day.

The history of an experimental medicine for animal testing essay

You can present the historical overview of the issue as one of the interesting topic ideas for animal testing essay. Let’s consider the most important milestones. So, there are three stages of the development of experimental medicine.

I

The first stage begins with the anatomy of Andreas Vesalius in the 17th century. This is the period of experiments on animals without anesthesia because anesthetics were discovered only at the beginning of the XIX century. Such experiments were called vivisection and characterized by extreme brutality. In that era, the society rarely spoke out about the cruelties of vivisection, although individual writers and scholars expressed their indignation about it.

II

The second stage, which should be included in animal testing research paper outline, fell on the XIX century when people began to publicly condemn the experiments on animals from the point of ethics. In the XIX century, there was established a social movement that sought to protect animals and the first organizations aimed at stopping the cruel tests were created as well. In 1878, in Great Britain, the first law in the world on the protection of experimental animals was adopted. It regulated the work with animals and prescribed the use of pain medications.

However, cruel tests continued in the XIX century. Charles Darwin wrote that he couldn’t sleep at night thinking about animals under experiments. The tests of Claude Bernard (who is famous for ingenuity with which he tortured animals) can serve as an example of such brutal procedures.

For example, he studied the impacts of high temperatures on animals: placed dogs, rabbits, and pigeons in special furnaces and observed how they were dying. This information may be enough to make “Why animal testing is bad?” essay persuasive.

III

The third stage in the development of medical and biological experiments took place in the 20th century. It is an era when the criticism of animal testing became more rigid. This stage is distinguished by the participation of doctors in the movement for the modification of experimental science or even for the abolition of animal testing.

Write in “Reasons why animal testing should be banned” essay that, in the 20th century, more than 100 dangerous medicines were released to the mass market due to vivisection. It is difficult to imagine how many effective meds and methods of treatment appeared with delays or were not created at all. But despite the adopted legislation and public opinion on vivisection, cruel experiments continue in our time.

Modern experiments for animal testing research paper

Unfortunately, modern science has not found any humane ways of conducting experiments. You may write in “animal testing should be banned” argumentative essay that the effect of electroshock on the behavior of dogs was studied at Harvard University. Animals were placed in a cage divided into two parts by a barrier that was gradually raised. Dogs received strong electric impulses through the floor and jumped over the barrier.

Then the passage to the second section was closed with glass. When the animals tried to jump, they injured their heads. During the first days of the experiment, dogs tried to resist; however, very soon, they were unable to do anything.

You may also write in the argumentative essay against animal testing that the scientists of the University of Florida studied the behavior of cats, which were taken from a local animal shelter. At first, the animals were not allowed to eat until their weight dropped to 80% of the norm. Then the cats were put on the floor to which the current was connected.

The heads of the animals were placed in a cylinder, in the back of which there was a button that they had to press to get food. Each animal was taught to press the button 1.5-2 thousand times per hour. Little later, they were taught not to press a button if there was a white light. If the cat was wrong, it received an electric impulse.

Mention in “Cosmetic animal testing” essay that the UK first banned such experiments in 1998. In 2002, the EU countries adopted a ban that came into effect in 2009. France actively advocated against the prohibitions, as this country traditionally has a strong cosmetic lobby.

Annually, more than 100 million experimental animals die all over the world. 65% of deaths are due to the testing of meds and new treatment methods. Infinite innovations and other fundamental researches are in the second place (26%). The testing of cosmetics and household chemicals for toxicity takes the lives of 8% of the victims. Finally, 1% of animals die in laboratories at universities.

Criticism of brutal practices in the chemical industry may be included in the number of points to make in a research paper about animal testing. Many international corporations resort to such methods. The most common experiment is the irritation of the rabbit’s eyes. It’s fair to notice that the rabbit’s eye is a bad model of the human eye. Monkeys would provide more reliable data, but if to take into account their cost, inaccessibility, and temperament, the experiment turns out to be too expensive and complicated.

The popular Draize Test (first applied in 1944) is cheap, accessible, and straightforward. In addition, rabbits have large eyes, which makes it is easier to evaluate the test results. Shampoos, pesticides, detergents, tear gas, are tested on the eyes of rabbits to measure the danger of chemicals and observe the harm they cause on the eyes and skin of animals. 

You may mention another applied test LD50 (lethal dose, 50%) in “stop animal testing for cosmetics” research paper. In its framework, animals are forced to digest, inhale, or consume increasing doses of the test substance. The goal is to determine the dose at which half of the animals die.

Write in “ethics of animal testing” research paper that fortunately, nowadays, the movement for high-quality humane education in biological, medical, and veterinary universities grows and develops. Students and teachers use computer programs, mathematical models, video films, observe the behavior of living animals, heal those animals which are ill, and operate corpses of those who died of natural death. You may state in “Alternatives to animal testing” essay that such methods were practiced in Sweden, England, and Italy and proved that students may excel without causing suffering to animals.

Arguments for animal testing pros and cons essay

Despite the fact that the prevailing part of modern society insists on the abolition of cruel experiments, this issue is much more complex and multifaceted than it may seem at first glance. So you may write in your “arguments against animal testing” essay that vivisection has both negative and positive aspects.

Arguments of vivisection advocates

• Vivisection gave impetus to the creation of medicines for various diseases. Mention the following demonstrative examples in the “advantages of animal testing” essay:

1. Conducting experiments on animals, Louis Pasteur proved the microbial form of diseases and established the specific features of the causative agents of anthrax, cholera, and childbed fever.
2. The Russian experimenter Ivan Pavlov created the whole doctrine of reflexes, observing the reactions of the dogs.

• It should be written in “We need animal testing” essay that, sometimes, there are really no alternatives. Problems of medical treatment may cause the need for surgical intervention. The only way out is experimenting on animals. Only observing a living organism, scientists can consider how the substance is deposited and during what time it is excreted.
• Many experts believe that animals are indispensable for the educational process. Computer programs and simulators can’t completely replace them.
• Stress the presence of strict regulation of vivisection in “should animal testing be allowed?” essay. In European countries, the issues of animal experiments and cruel treatment are carefully monitored.
• Due to animal testing, scientists achieved enormous success in the fight against incurable diseases. Despite the rapid medical progress, incurable diseases still exist. Recently, Danish scientists made a discovery that got them closer to curing cancer due to animal experiments.
• Stress in your animal testing debate essay that microbes change all the time. Pathogenic microorganisms evolve very quickly; therefore, during the intensive use of antibiotics, resistant forms of microorganisms develop. Old and proven antibiotics are becoming less effective. Therefore, human should regularly create new antimicrobial drugs.
• Note in “animal testing saves lives” essay that the creation of new antibiotics requires their application to living things. If scientists abandon such tests and thereby stop the creation of fundamentally new ways of fighting pathogenic microorganisms, then most people can become victims of epidemics.

Arguments of animal advocates

• You may state in “Should we continue animal testing?” essay that religion is on the side of animals. Jesus lived in harmony with nature, and, by saying, “You shall not kill,” he meant all living creatures. A human, created as a reflection of God, is obliged to preserve life in all its forms.
• Don’t forget to mention in your argumentative essay on animal abuse that during the medical experiments, 2/3 of the animals die.
• The anatomical and physiological differences between humans and animals call into question the effectiveness of medical experiments. As an example, morphine decreases the feeling of pain in a human but produces a peculiar excitant state in cats; also, aspirin taken daily by a human is toxic to felines. Note in “should animals be used for research?” argumentative essay that scientists created more than 150 drugs that are effective for animals but dangerous for humans.
• Clinical observations of patients turn out to be much more useful than animal experiments. Thus, impressive results were achieved in the struggle against hepatitis, typhus, rheumatism, ulcerative colitis, and thyroid diseases.
• Testing of cosmetic products often leads to death or turns animals into disabled. Nowadays, dozens of cosmetic brands have the inscriptions “Not tested on animals” or “Cruelty-free.” You may state in animal testing argumentative essay conclusion that it is an explicit confirmation of the fact that, when creating cosmetics, brutality can be avoided, and many animal lives can be saved.
• In addition to material considerations, the use of animals for experiments is reasonably expensive. About 3,000 subjects are required to test one chemical substance. They have to be transported, fed, and maintained. All this explains the need for the development of alternative practices. For example, the German organization ZEBET has already created skin tissue grown in the laboratory. Moreover, Hurel company presented a chip with the help of which it is possible to identify allergic reactions, and no tests on animals were conducted. Finally, some studies can be carried out with the use of computer simulation.
• Some experiments are useless and have no scientific value. Recently, the US spent $150 million to determine the impact of various drugs on the animal body. $10 million were spent on the determination of the response of rabbits to LSD. Still, it is impossible to say that similar reactions will occur in the human body due to the difference in the physiological characteristics of humans and animals.
• Many animal rights vs medical research articles inform that laboratories often violate the sanitary and legislative norms. Hidden cameras record cruel attitudes towards animals. They are kept in dirty cells with feces, blood, and vomit. Former employees of Huntingdon Life Sciences laboratory reported about falsifying documents, using forbidden gases, and deliberate violence against animals.

Harm caused by animal testing

As you already know, testing of meds on animals does not provide reliable data about their effects on humans. However, it helps pharmaceutical companies to get permission from the authorities to sell their products. Emphasize in “disadvantages of animal testing” essay that, sometimes, such a system leads to the distribution of dangerous drugs with unpredictable effects.

Thalidomide tragedy

A sad example is a shocking story of thalidomide – a drug due to which more than 10 thousand children in the world were born without arms, legs, ears, and with eye defects between 1956 and 1962. About half of them died in early childhood.

Thalidomide was planned as a medicine against seizures. Experiments on animals have shown that it did not possess the desired effect. However, an overdose of the drug did not kill mice, which gave reason to consider it harmless. Then the test samples were applied to humans. It turned out that thalidomide is a working sleeping pill and, most importantly, it is safe, because, unlike other similar medicines, its overdose does not lead to death.

To prove its effectiveness and get a license in Germany, developers had to resort to deception. Thalidomide was sold in 46 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. Only after 5 years, it became clear that, between 20th and 36th weeks of pregnancy, only one pill can cause fetal defects.

Isoprenaline

It’s also worth mentioning in “Should animals be used for research?” essay that, in the ‘60s, in the UK, 3.5 thousand asthmatic patients who used isoprenaline aerosol inhalers died. The drug was also tested on animals. However, even large doses of the preparation just slightly accelerated the heartbeat of subjects. It is worth mentioning that cats could withstand a 175 times higher dose of the drug than a human.

Clioquinol

In the ‘60s, in Japan, an outbreak of diseases was caused by the consumption of clioquinol. It affected about 10-30 thousand people. The most severe complications were paralysis and blindness.

Antiarthritis treatment

In the ‘80s, an antiarthritis drug has been widely used. Only in the UK, up to 3,500 cases of poisoning were observed (61 of which were fatal).

Taking into account the abovementioned incidents, you may push forward the following animal testing research paper thesis: it seems quite wise to stop experiments on animals – not only for the sake of animals but also for the benefit of science.

Overweight treatment

Also, you can provide a description of the obese treatment that led to cataracts in your animal experimentation essay. In 1933, referring to ‘reliable’ results of animal testing, the researchers suggested using dinitrophenol as a remedy against overweight. However, doctors soon noticed that it caused cataracts in some patients. There were approximately 200 such cases. After this, the drug was banned for oral use.

Attempts have been made to simulate this effect in rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and dogs. However, no changes in their eyes were noted during the experiments. In 1942, researchers concluded that all attempts to cause cataract in laboratory animals by using repeated dinitrophenol doses were unsuccessful.

Migraine treatment

Here is one more example of an animal testing persuasive essay, which shows the discrepancy between experimental data and clinical observations. In the mid-60s, scientists suggested that clonidine may prove to be a useful drug for preventing migraines. Relying on data of experiments on cats, the researchers found out that clonidine interfered with the physiological processes responsible for the headaches. The drug was introduced in 1969, but its use in the clinical conditions revealed that, as a whole, clonidine is ineffective and almost useless.

Siprofen was included in the list of banned drugs

Another case that may be included in an outline for persuasive essay on animal testing is connected with the anti-arthritis drug, siprofen. In May 1987, it was withdrawn from common use after obtaining data on renal impairment and pain, which appeared after its application. Patients who faced these problems were monitored for 2 years after stopping the drug consumption because it was necessary to check the condition of their kidneys regularly. These dangerous effects were unexpected as the experiments on animals showed complete harmlessness of the remedy. In several species of animals, no significant impact on the cardiovascular, excretory, and central nervous system was observed.

For centuries, it was believed that alcohol is harmful to the liver. The opinions of scientists remained unchanged until the first half of the twentieth century when, as a result of animal testing, it was concluded that alcohol is not dangerous for the liver. In 1934, the results of work with animals showed the following: experimental data did not confirm the assumption that alcohol is the direct cause of cirrhosis.

Based on the results of experiments with rats, the researchers later claimed that pure ethanol does not have a specific effect on liver cells. They were sure that it is no more toxic than sugar. Since it is difficult to cause cirrhosis in laboratory animals, some experts still doubt the toxicity of ethanol.

Emphasize in analytical essay on animal testing that vivisection supplied the scientific world with incorrect results in other areas of alcohol research. For decades, it was known that excessive consumption of alcohol could cause cancer, but there were doubts about this clinical fact because experimenters failed to provoke the disease in animals. Indeed, some people continue to insist that alcohol should not be classified as a human carcinogen, as experiments on animals have not confirmed its negative influence.

What is more, ethanol appears to be more toxic to the circulatory system of humans than to organisms of animals. While prolonged consumption increases blood pressure in alcoholics, it causes no changes in rats. Finally, alcohol has a destructive impact on the human heart, but animals injected with large doses of ethanol during an extended period have shown that this did not lead to cardiac problems.

Despite the fact that the outcomes of alcohol consumption are well-known, the work with animals is constantly funded. The report of National Research Information Center compiled by Dr. Murry Cohen and Dr. Constance Young showed that in 1986, the US government-sponsored 284 alcohol research projects that used animals, and their cost was almost $24 million.

It should be stressed in the “Scientific perspective to animal testing” essay that experts came to the following conclusion: experiments on animals provide little knowledge of alcohol-related disorders.

Review of alternative methods

Earlier in this article, it was mentioned that the criticism of vivisection in the ethical and scientific terms served as a basis for revising the experiment as a whole and preparing constructive proposals for improving medical research, both in terms of humanizing and increasing the scientific credibility. Now it’s time to provide some specific facts.

You may mention in the essay about solution of animal testing and research that scientists Russell and Burch compiled a program for the humanization of the medical and biological experiments. They put forward the principle of “three R,” which is disclosed as follows:

1. Reduction - decrease in the number of animals used in the experiment;
2. Replacement - use of alternative models instead of animals;
3. Refinement - improvement of the quality of the test, its humanization through the use of analgesic and non-traumatic methods of work with animals.

In accordance with these principles, when obtaining a license, the experimenter indicates the estimated number of used animals, the impossibility of replacing them with other models in this experiment, and methods for eliminating pain and other sufferings of the animal (anesthesia).

Living and non-living objects can be used as an alternative to the animal as a biological model: single-celled organisms, egg embryos, bacteria, cells, tissue and organ cultures, physicochemical methods, and computer models.

In vitro methods

Methods of using cell cultures called in vitro are the most popular. They eliminated the severe problem of transferring data from one biological object to another and found wide application in such fields of medicine as virology, oncology, development of vaccines, and serums.

Their advantage lies in the fact that the toxicity of the tested drugs is indicated at a deeper cellular level (sometimes even subcellular), whereas traditional animal testing methods assess the effect of the drug relying on the overall reaction of the animal.

Scientific articles on animal testing for medical research report that, compared to in vivo studies (which are the experiments on the living organism), the use of cell cultures has several advantages. Here are the most important of them:

• high uniformity of experimental objects, since cultures represent a genetically homogeneous population of cells growing in constant conditions;
• high sensitivity of cell cultures to changes in living conditions under the influence of chemical and other factors;
• possibility of assessing the viability of cells throughout the experiment;
• using a relatively small amount of biological materials instead of costly animals, which allows simultaneous testing of several drugs in different doses, as well as various schemes of their use.

It should be especially emphasized that the use of human cell cultures in preclinical studies creates a unique opportunity to reduce probable errors and negative results of clinical tests since some immunobiological parameters of laboratory animals and humans differ in both physiological and pathogenetic aspects. In a conclusion for a research paper about animal testing, it may be stated that methods of cell cultures, tissues, or organs are cheaper and more effective than conventional experiments on animals.

The LAL test

It’s worth mentioning in animal rights research paper that one of the best alternatives to animal testing is the LAL test.

The LAL test, as an alternative to the experiment on rabbits, first appeared in the US Pharmacopeia, 20th edition, in 1980, and was described as the detection of bacterial endotoxins. In 1984, 5 drugs described in the USP underwent the LAL test. In the 23rd edition of USP, 680 preparations had a reference to the section on bacterial endotoxins. Even in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, 2000 edition, control of the endotoxin limit level was indicated for more than 80 injectable preparations.

The appearance of the LAL test as a pharmacopoeial method was preceded by more than two decades of research work. In 1956, an American scientist Bang F.B. conducted the experiments on horseshoe crabs. The work on the creation of the first commercial reagent containing their blood cells was started in 1970.

Currently, companies producing reagents for the LAL test catch crabs in summer, take about 30% of the blood (about 200 ml), and release them into the sea again. Blood sampling does not harm animals, whose blood volume is restored within 3-7 days, and the number of amoebocytes - within 4 months.

The LAL test, in comparison with the test for pyrogens on rabbits, shows that it is incorrect and even impossible to apply certain injections and technological equipment to animals.

You may write in an essay on animal testing for medical purposes that it is also economically advantageous to replace the experiments on rabbits with this test.

Unicellular organisms

It is quite convenient to analyze unicellular organisms (bacteria, infusoria). When introducing a toxic substance into the habitat of these creatures, they either slow down the movement (infusoria) or cease to glow (glowing bacteria).

Egg embryo

The use of an egg embryo to determine the irritant effect of toxic substances deserves special attention. The tested remedy is applied to the area of ​​the egg released from the shell. The allantoic film reacts to the irritating influence of different intensity and, as a result, swelling of the vessels, redness, etc. may be observed. You may push forward the animal testing argumentative essay thesis on the advisability of this method because it is cheap, simple, and sufficiently reliable.

Computer modeling

Those who are concerned about animal cruelty can definitely be grateful to the scientific progress for the development of computer methods of analysis. Virtual screening is the selection of compounds that exist only in electronic form, according to certain parameters, using various algorithms. These algorithms are most often based on a computer analysis of the possible qualitative and quantitative relationship between the structure of the compound and its expected biological activity. Such selection involves the calculation and prediction of the physical, physicochemical, and pharmacological properties of the tested substance.

Along with the virtual screening, computer simulation of molecules is used as a method with an inverse principle. It suggests the establishment of the structure of the leading compound with a predetermined pharmacological activity.

Within the framework of the virtual screening strategy, there is a promising direction of search for new biologically active compounds based on the analysis of structure-activity relationships (SAR) for known biologically active substances and modeling interactions of macro models-targets with low-molecular ligands.

Although such approaches called Computer-Aided Drug Design (CADD) are directly related to computer technology, in fact, they presuppose the multidisciplinary research, which requires the involvement of knowledge from various fields of natural science.

Useful tips for writing on animal testing essay topics

Entering the university and getting the first task to write an essay, some students confuse such texts with other types of academic papers, even after reading the sample argumentative essay on animal testing or other kinds of this assignment. So in order to avoid the possible confusion, let’s figure out what is the essay is and what specific characteristics such text has. The information below will help you avoid a number of mistakes.

Features of the essay genre

In general, an essay is a piece of writing that presents the author’s opinion on a particular matter. Such works are often written at school, but the rules for the paper are much stricter if you are in university. The academic papers should be written in accordance with standard requirements:

• The essay deals with a specific problem or topic. Of course, you may find various animal testing essay ideas, but you have to concentrate on one of them.
• While writing an essay, the author approaches the question from an individual perspective, presenting their own opinion. There even may be an emotional expression of thoughts and feelings, especially if you are writing a philosophy essay on animal rights and animal testing. However, if you have a task to write an analytical or argumentative essay, mind that the text should consist of arguments, facts, and conclusions, and emotions are not welcomed in this case.
• In this assignment, you are allowed to express your opinion and not only dry facts. However, while it is not difficult to find enough data for your informative essay example about animal testing, it’s a challenging task to formulate your own opinion on the matter in order to deliver the message clearly and concisely. But still, it’s a great opportunity to develop your creative writing skills.

How to write an introduction, main part and conclusion for animal testing essay?

As soon as you came up with the idea for your paper, it’s time thing about its structure. You definitely know that the essay scheme is quite simple as you have seen a lot of examples of

animal testing argumentative essay outline. However, it is important to remember the following aspects:

• The introductory and final parts focus the reader’s attention on the main issue of the paper. The animal testing essay introduction should describe a specific problem area. The task of the conclusion is to summarize the reasoning on the problem.
• To achieve the integrity of the work, you need to make sure that each paragraph is indispensable in relation to the entire text. When one of the paragraphs is excluded, the meaning of the whole paper can be lost.
• Animal testing research paper introduction and conclusion should consist of not more than one paragraph (3-4 sentences).
• As we already mentioned, in this type of work, you are free to be expressive and emotional. To achieve such an effect, you may start the text with a catchy animal testing essay hook, which will spark the interest of a reader.

Checking and editing your paper

Do not forget about the importance of proofreading and editing. Experts recommend starting with the draft version of the text and carefully rework it when the overall outlines of the paper are clear. If you neglect this part, you may lose some points due to the presence of grammatical, punctuation, and stylistic mistakes. So spend a little more time working on the text, and your essay will be perfect.

Writing a research paper on animal testing

Of course, a research paper will differ from the ordinary essay, as this task requires a more profound and extended study. It’s an assignment designed to check whether a student can work independently, without a retelling of information found in specific animal testing research paper sources. Another thing is to make sure that the data you have found is up-to-date and trustworthy.

Since it’s a complex task, when you are writing an animal testing research paper, questions regarding the structure of the paper may arise in your mind. Don’t worry, there is nothing difficult about this aspect! Research paper consists of introduction, main part, and conclusion, just like an essay.

How to come up with a good title for animal testing research paper?

You did the right thing if you postponed the compilation of the animal testing essay titles till the last moment. It is better to deal with it when the text is written and carefully checked. Try to find a short phrase which, at the same time, can reveal the meaning of research.

The main rule: be yourself

The style of writing helps to delve into the personality of the author. That is why it is not recommended to adjust to the formal standards and to try to copy animal testing essay examples written by other students. Remember that it is important to be yourself and express your own beliefs and ideas.

We hope that this information was useful for you, and now you know how to write an impressive essay on animal testing. Treat the task as an opportunity to show your creative side. Then writing an essay will definitely turn into an easy and enjoyable process. Good luck!