Can the animal testing done to find cures for diseases be done Essay

Can the animal testing done to find cures for diseases be done humanely or is it by nature inhumane - Essay Example animal testing because much more relaxed standards on what a researcher could do to his animal were in place that allowed for very torturous acts to be undertaken in the name of science. It is extreme cases like that which prompt modern opposition to animal testing. However, research institutions much more tightly regulate live animal testing today in order to protect the interests of animals when they are being tested, and there is no reason to believe that animal testing cannot be conducted in a humane fashion. Animal testing endures a great number of regulations in order to protect the interests of animals. At Stanford University, scientists adhere to the Animal Welfare Act and must submit proposals for how they will use their animals in experimentation. This requires a researcher to think beforehand about the best way to use his animal resources to achieve his intended outcome, and this allows other scientists to criticize that method if it is cruel. Scientists also sit down to discuss concepts of cruelty and the appropriate use of animals in a laboratory (Stanford News Service). With grant money depending on these scientists’ abilities to understand and apply these concepts of humane treatment, there is a strong incentive to treat animals with a measure of respect they have not been given in centuries prior. The Canadian Council on Animal Care proposes additional practical ways in which animal tested can be conducted humanely, summarized as the â€Å"three R’s† (CCAC). The first â€Å"R† refers to â€Å"replacement,† or the preferred use of an inanimate system or model instead of a live animal model. Cell and tissue cultures are sometimes even better than a full-scale live animal model because there are fewer variables to consider. â€Å"Reduction† is the second â€Å"R,† which means decreasing the number of animals used in experimentation. This is a good scientific practice anyway, regarding the number of confounding genetic variables that may arise in a