Although one may argue animals should not be used in biomedical research because there are many alternative out there to substitute animal testing, and animals has feeling and show empathy when another is hurt; however, the truth of the matter is humankinds need to use animals for biomedical testing in order to advance human race because animal testing will help us further understand human diseases, animal share many similar genetic similarity between the human, and it is unethical to use human in biomedical researches.
Animal testing has played a crucial role in the development of many lifesaving cures and surgeries; the lives that were saved by animal testing are so considerable that there is not even a figure today to estimate it. Using …show more content…
This, however, is not true. Many people believe that with the technology today, we can replace animal testing with computer modeling, nonetheless, computer modeling can never match the complexity of a real working brain. Professor Stephen Hawking once said, “Computers can do amazing things. But even the most powerful computers can’t replace animal experiments in medical research” in his Seriously III for Medical Research in 1996. Computer modeling does indeed play an important role in research, but its ability to replace the use of animal is often limited. Before a scientist can program a computer to emulate the physiology of a human brain, a model is needed in order to study the physiology. Of course, this knowledge comes through the research of animals. So we still to study the animals before we can eventually rely on computer modeling. Computer are also hindered by its processing power. A simulation was done on a mouse’s brain, and it required the world’s fastest computer simulated only half a brain. A more recent computer simulation was done on human brain activity using the latest supercomputer, K, in Japan. According to the Independent, “It took the K computer, with over 700,000 processor cores and 1.4 million GB of RAM, 40 minutes to model the data.” (Zachary, 2014) To give you an idea of how powerful the K …show more content…
Micro-dosing enabled a human volunteer to safely test drugs without harming the subject and using any animal. This technology comprise of giving the human volunteer doses of a drug high enough to study the effect, but lower enough without affecting the subject’s body. This method may sound promising, however, it has its limitations. The scientists are only give their human subjects a low amount of doses; so by micro-dosing’s very nature, it cannot foresee the medication’s side effects that will arise if it is given at higher ‘therapeutic’
Animal testing has played a crucial role in the development of many lifesaving cures and surgeries; the lives that were saved by animal testing are so considerable that there is not even a figure today to estimate it. Using …show more content…
This, however, is not true. Many people believe that with the technology today, we can replace animal testing with computer modeling, nonetheless, computer modeling can never match the complexity of a real working brain. Professor Stephen Hawking once said, “Computers can do amazing things. But even the most powerful computers can’t replace animal experiments in medical research” in his Seriously III for Medical Research in 1996. Computer modeling does indeed play an important role in research, but its ability to replace the use of animal is often limited. Before a scientist can program a computer to emulate the physiology of a human brain, a model is needed in order to study the physiology. Of course, this knowledge comes through the research of animals. So we still to study the animals before we can eventually rely on computer modeling. Computer are also hindered by its processing power. A simulation was done on a mouse’s brain, and it required the world’s fastest computer simulated only half a brain. A more recent computer simulation was done on human brain activity using the latest supercomputer, K, in Japan. According to the Independent, “It took the K computer, with over 700,000 processor cores and 1.4 million GB of RAM, 40 minutes to model the data.” (Zachary, 2014) To give you an idea of how powerful the K …show more content…
Micro-dosing enabled a human volunteer to safely test drugs without harming the subject and using any animal. This technology comprise of giving the human volunteer doses of a drug high enough to study the effect, but lower enough without affecting the subject’s body. This method may sound promising, however, it has its limitations. The scientists are only give their human subjects a low amount of doses; so by micro-dosing’s very nature, it cannot foresee the medication’s side effects that will arise if it is given at higher ‘therapeutic’