5 Ways We Can Stop Animal Testing NOW

We need to stop animal testing now. And yes, there are more alternatives than you’d imagine! Here are some of the best

By Jody McCutcheon

Back in the 1970s, a naive and rather irresponsible researcher, Herb Terrace, launched Project Nim, a study on teaching chimps sign language and documented it on film. But what should have been an interesting and heartwarming story of human-ape interaction soon turned into a horror movie. After having raised baby chimp Nim as a little human and taught him how to sign, Terrace passed the communicative primate on to other researchers after he bit one of his trainers on the face. The end result: Nim ended up in the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery In Primates (LEMSIP), where he was brutally used to test medicines for humans.

As you can imagine, after having eaten at a dining table with people, played with human children and even being given his own kitten, being subjected to painful medical experiments and living in a cage was nothing short of nightmarish for poor Nim.

More recently, ‘Puppygate’ – where Dr Anthony Fauci paid for puppies to have their faces eaten off by sandflies – made people even more aware of why we need to stop animal testing now.

A Contentious Issue

Animal testing has been a contentious issue for decades. Back in 1959, scientists William Russell and Rex Burch first described the basic principles behind the ethics surrounding animal testing, known as the 3 R’s.

  • Reduction: the use of methods that provide researchers with comparable amounts of data from fewer animals, or more data from the same number of animals
  • Refinement: the use of methods that minimize potential for animal pain, suffering and distress and maximize animal welfare
  • Replacement: the use of non-animal subjects wherever possible

But those 3 Rs were – and are – largely ignored. Consequently, animal activists have called for an outright ban on vivisection (a.k.a. animal testing). Lately, animal activists have been winning battles, with public support for animal rights having risen steadily in the last decade. Consequently, the US National Institute of Health has fully retired its chimp-testing program. But that’s not good enough.

How to Stop Animal Testing
Image: Latuff

A Bit Of Progress

Some governments also support animal rights, to an extent. In 2013, the European Union banned the testing of finished cosmetic products and cosmetic ingredients on animals. But the EU hasn’t outright banned animal testing for scientific purposes. It has passed legislation that protects them in such cases, under the auspices of the 3 R’s mentioned above. And as we know, those Rs are often ignored.

Years ago, Barack Obama signed a revised Toxic Substances Control Act with a provision to restrict animal testing in drug experiments. And a group of regulatory bodies from the US, Canada, Brazil, Japan and the EU jointly called the International Cooperation on Cosmetics Regulation (ICCR), is working toward the elimination of cosmetic animal testing while offering alternatives (e.g., here and here).  

What may surprise you is the fact that neither the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) nor the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission requires that cosmetics or household products be tested on animals at all.  So if activists and various governments are on board, and if animal testing isn’t even required half the time, why does it  persist? And persist it does. According to a study in the Indian Journal of Pharmacology, a whopping fifty to a hundred million animals are used worldwide in scientific experiments each year.

Big Pharma’s Evil Habits

The main reason animal testing continues is, of course, corporate resistance from Big Pharma. Animal testing is one of the cheapest, fastest and easiest ways for them to get a drug to market. Another reason is the scientific community’s stubborn conservatism. For decades, researchers have relied on animal testing, so it’s comfortable and easy, as results can be compared to previous tests on animals. In terms of pure paperwork, alternative methods must overcome bureaucratic hurdles before being implemented.

Some scientists insist that certain conditions such as blindness and high blood pressure can’t be studied in non-animal subjects like bacteria and tissue cultures. They also make the rather spurious claim that animal testing is the best way to bring benefits to animal as well as human health. They cite the need for animal testing for the development of vaccines for diseases such as rabies, feline leukemia and heartworm. Overall, the conservative camp will tell you that any alternatives to animal testing are years of research and development away from practical reality. But is this just the rhetoric of the invested?

Animal Testing Is Inaccurate

While animal testing may be the more comfortable and familiar option, it’s also unreliable. And in many cases, it’s inaccurate, unnecessary, and cruel (hello, Dr Fauci!) Few recognise how testing on animals in distress is the kind of shoddy science that can skew results. It’s hard to imagine how animals such as chimps or dogs kept in small cages over long periods of time can not be in distress!  

As for reliability, we need to stop animal testing because its results are often inapplicable to humans. Compounds that seem to be safe in animals may be toxic to humans, and vice versa. Don’t forget you can actually kill a dog by feeding it chocolate, but we humans love it! The US Food and Drug Administration itself has said that up to ninety percent of drugs that pass animal testing fail when administered to humans.

And by “failing” they mean the drug either doesn’t work or is downright dangerous. Differences between species, and even between animals of the same species, can produce unreliable results due to variances in absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of chemicals.

For example, rabbits subjected to the Draize skin test, used in cosmetic testing, often experience skin redness, bleeding, ulcers and even blindness. That’s the price rabbits pay for a mere sixty-percent prediction rate of skin irritation in humans. What’s more, certain alternative skin-test methods, such as those done on human volunteers, are much better. These are up to eighty-six percent accurate. Keep in mind that drug testing results even vary on humans, depending on their age, gender and race. But these factors are rarely, if ever, considered when doing drug testing.

Not Even Necessary

Another reason to stop animal testing is because it’s not even necessary. Despite common belief, not every breakthrough in medical history has required animal testing. For example? While the discovery of insulin therapy is said to have relied on the removal of dogs’ pancreases, that’s not entirely true. The real research legwork had been done earlier in observations of human patients. Or consider that the best location for electrodes to be placed in the brain for the Parkinson’s treatment known as Deep Brain Stimulation was first identified not through research on monkeys, but decades earlier, through brain surgery on human patients.

How to Stop Animal Testing
Image: Wellcome Library, London, Wellcome Images [email protected]

5 Ways To Stop Animal Testing Now

While the odd case may require animal testing, there can be little doubt that in most cases researchers should be looking to stop animal testing now. Given that animals are just as sentient as we are, it’s simply barbaric.

Several alternatives exist that are potentially far more effective in determining toxicity effects on humans from new drugs or chemicals. Many organisations fund the exploration and development of such alternatives, including: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods and SEURAT-1 (Safety Evaluation Ultimately Replacing Animal Testing). 

The most common alternatives that could stop animal testing are listed below.

1. In Vitro Testing

Many in vitro methods aren’t yet widely used, and are still being evaluated. But early returns suggest greater accuracy of data than that provided by animal testing. Furthermore, this promising culture has already inspired progress in treatments of AIDS, cancers, sepsis and kidney disease. It is already regularly used in chemical safety testing, vaccine production and drug development.

One type of in vitro testing ground consists of what is called a 3D “human skin equivalent,” such as EpiDerm and SkinEthic. These anatomy models allow for an assessment of allergic reactions without any harm coming to cute little creatures like guinea pigs and rabbits. In a nod to corporate responsibility, cosmetic company L’Oreal has partnered with SkinEthic to conceive of one particular model called Episkin.

Another example is the organ-on-a-chip program that many labs are exploring. These devices mimic human organs such as kidney, lung and heart, on which drugs and chemicals are tested for toxicity. Responses are measured via electric signals. Cells can survive and function on chips for several weeks, in some cases, allowing for many different experiments to be done. The ultimate goal is to replicate an entire human on a chip. And that goal is getting closer every day.

2. Stem Cells

Similar to in vitro methods, the use of human embryonic stem cells on which to trial toxicity and other effects of new drugs may yield quicker and more accurate results than those predicted by animal testing.

Heart, ocular and other human tissues can be replicated from stem cells. These are then exposed to developmental-stage drugs in order to monitor stem cell behavior. Researchers watch carefully for key changes.

The theory is that exposure to toxic substances may alter concentrations of the stem cell molecules, thus disrupting cell-to-cell interactions. This, in turn, produces a “biological cascade” that may lead to potential developmental disorders. Stem cell testing of this type is a new concept, so more research is needed to determine whether the approach is viable and trustworthy. Especially on a system as complex as the human body.

3. Advanced Computer Modeling

As with in vitro and stem cell models, computer (in silico) models allow for testing of new drugs and treatments. Researchers have developed several sophisticated in silico simulations of human biology. These include heart, lung, kidney, skin, musculoskeletal and digestive systems on which they can track progression of developing diseases. Early studies indicate these simulations can reliably predict how trial drugs interact with the body. This is one of the best alternatives to help us stop animal testing. 

Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models are specific kinds of in silico methods that produce accurate estimates of a substance’s hazard potential to humans, basing estimates on comparisons to existing substances and our understanding of human biology. Another type is brain-imaging technology, which allows researchers to see inside the brain to study the progression and treatment of brain diseases on volunteer subjects. The results can then be compared to healthy volunteers.

4. Human Volunteers

What better way to eliminate animal testing than to instead test drugs on human volunteers? The practice of microdosing consists of giving volunteer subjects a tiny, one-time dose of a drug to assess how the drug behaves in the body. This can be done via advanced imaging techniques. Microdosing helps to screen out compounds that won’t work on humans. While microdosing offers details about pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, it offers no information about toxicity or toxicology. This could be measured on stem cells, though.

Another way for human volunteers to help stop animal testing is through organ and tissue donations from surgeries and post-mortems. These donations can be used in the same ways as tissues developed in vitro. Since they’re mature tissues (unlike those grown in a lab), they offer a more reliable response to stimuli.

5. Human-Patient Simulators

Lifelike human-patient simulators have replaced animal test subjects in ninety-seven percent of US medical schools. These high-tech simulators breathe, bleed, convulse, talk and even die. They mimic illnesses and injuries, providing accurate biological responses in medical interventions and introduction of medications.

For example, the TraumaMan system replicates a breathing, bleeding human torso, with multiple layers of skin and tissue as well as internal organs. It teaches emergency surgical techniques without the need to cut into live dogs, pigs or goats. Generally, human-patient simulators are better teaching aids for physiology and pharmacology students than exercises in which animals are cut up.

All Aboard?

From governments, researchers and animal activists alike, much support exists for seeking alternative methods to animal testing. After all, why expose animals to unnecessary suffering? The biggest argument from the anti-alternatives camp is: the human body is too complex for simulations and in vitro models to accurately mimic. The perfect rebuttal for this argument, of course, is: necessity is the mother of invention! Who knows what is possible until the only choice is to try something else?

Sources used for this article

Main image: Wikicommons

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/animals/using/experiments_1.shtml

http://www.ca-biomed.org/csbr/pdf/fs-whynecessary.pdf

https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/why-we-do-it/alternatives-animal-testing

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/cosmetics/animal-testing_en

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternatives_to_animal_testing

http://www.neavs.org/alternatives/in-testing

http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/alternatives-animal-testing/

https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/laboratory/areanimalexperimentsnecessary

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/409191/testing-drugs-with-stem-cells/

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/scientists-seek-alternatives-to-animal-testing-6r8bcdwbm

Do you agree we need to stop animal testing now? Let us know in the comments, below!

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11 thoughts on “5 Ways We Can Stop Animal Testing NOW”

  1. Well said. Testing on animals is deplorable. As this piece lays out, there are so many humane options that are more effective.

  2. Great article. By clinging to the archaic animal “model” as the gold standard of research, the scientific community is wasting precious time, resources, and both human and animal lives.

  3. How many more animals and people have to die because experiments on animals don’t work? All other technologies are progressing at break-neck speed; it’s time product and chemical testing did too.

  4. Experiments on animals are cruel and pointless. More and more people are now acknowledging that there are humane and effective non-animal research methods. I was born with a health condition and I don’t want doctors wasting time and money on inhumane animal experiments that won’t even help people with diseases or disabilities. I’m not a chimpanzee or a rat or pigeon or a mouse and I’m certainly not evil enough to believe that another species should be subjected to cruel and painful experiments on my behalf.

  5. Fact: Humans have different physiology than animals. So why would we test things on animals when sophisticated computer simulations, in vitro studies on human cells and tissues (such as “organs-on-chips” that Harvard’s Wyss Institute created), and human-patient simulators are cutting-edge, non-animal research methods that proven to be more accurate than cruel animal experiments?

  6. Thank you for this reminder that experimenting on animals is not only extremely cruel, it is ineffective and dangerous because it produces false and misleading results. Modern, animal-free research methods are more accurate, affordable, and humane.

  7. Thanks for this. I agree that experimenting on animals needs to come to a swift end. It’s wasteful, cruel, and offers no guarantee that results will be transferable to human systems.

  8. Good first go. Keep digging and you will soon discover animal exploitation needs to be banned, not regulated. Anything less, such as the 3Rs, ultimately promotes further exploitation. And, any regulatory body involved in animal experimentation, such as the National Institutes of Health, has financial incentive to continue to promote the exploitation. Sara Busch, an ethical vegan veterinarian

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