Question

• Discuss a specific research study involving animals that had ethical issues.
• What were the ethical issues involved?
• What could have been done to conduct the research study differently to avoid these ethical issues?

Answer 1

Discuss a specific research study involving animals that had ethical issues

Animal Research: The Ethics of Animal Experimentation is a study done by Huntington's Outreach Project For Education, at Stanford. In this study, animals are used as subject to experimentation in order to gain more knowledge about human diseases so that specific treatments can be developed out of it.

What were the ethical issues involved?

• People argue that it is wrong to use animals as tools for increasing knowledge.
• Some people argue that animals should have full right to live just like humans, a life free of pain and suffering.
• Most people agree that animals have some moral status and that animals should not be abused morally.
• Also some people argue that human benefits obtained from animal experimentation is not proven

What could have been done to conduct the research study differently to avoid these ethical issues?

The different methods to avoid these ethical issues are:

Replacement: Replacing animals with other alternative technique such as:

• Using computer models
• Cell culture experimentation instead of the whole animals
• Studying the human volunteers

Refinement: Refining the way animals are cared for so as to reduce thier suffering by:

• Improving the living conditions
• Providing better medical care
• Using less painful techniques

Reduction: Reducing the number of animals in experiments by:

• Improving the experimenting techniques
• Improving the methods of data analysis