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Arguably one of the most heated debates in science, Alla Katsnelson explores the many issues behind efforts to reduce the number of animals used in studies.

One of the most contentious issues in science is the use of animals in research. Because are many people against the use of animals in research but they are necessary to investigate new treatments. Scientists experiment on animals for a host of different reasons, including basic research to explore how organisms function, investigating potential treatments for human disease, and safety and quality control testing of drugs, devices and other products. There is a long list of medical advances made possible with the help of animal research. Opponents believe it is cruel and meaningless, as observations in animals often do not translate directly to humans.

The truth is that around 29 million animals per year are currently used in experiments in the US and European Union countries. The 80% of these animals are Rats and mice.  

Some believe technological advances will one day make animal studies unnecessary, while others argue that “non-living” models will never be capable of reliably replicating all of the uses of laboratory mice and other creatures.

Capable: capaç

Meaningles: sense sentit

 

Nowadays this issue is very problematic and is delicate because there are people against and also in favor, so it causes a dispute. The main issue is that the humans use animals to do experiments and that's not fair because we hurt them just to improve our life. Moreover we take away their freedom for then killing them.

But the truth is that we need them to explore how organisms function, investigating potential treatments for human disease, and safety and quality control testing of drugs, devices and other products. So they are necessary to us but in my opinion we use the animal for our benefit and we don’t respect them as they deserve.