• Question: Do you believe testing drugs on animals is correct?

    Asked by Jess to Dan, Dawn on 17 Jun 2016. This question was also asked by LILYYY.
    • Photo: Dan Lewis

      Dan Lewis answered on 17 Jun 2016:

      Oh that is a very difficult question to answer. Over the past decade animal testing has declined massively. Scientists now have got software and computer models that can replicate to an extent the activity of drugs on the human body. An attempt to try and test medication on humans as early and safely in the development is key to getting the drug on the market so it is available to many people.

    • Photo: Dawn Lau

      Dawn Lau answered on 23 Jun 2016:

      This is a really good question. Animal testing is essential to developing new drugs. Here are a few facts (that are relevant for the UK):

      – Animal research is fully regulated by the UK Home Office, which sets extremely strict ethical policies that we have to follow.
      – Legally, all drugs that are to be tested in humans MUST be tested in two species of mammals first.
      – All potential veterinary drugs must be tested in animals for safety.
      – We cannot test in animals if there is a viable non-animal alternative.

      No one actually likes using animals for research. But they are the best option we have for testing new drugs before testing on humans. Although we have come up with computer models and cell models to simulate disease conditions, and we can test drugs in them, they just don’t fully replicate the effects of a drug in an actual body. For example, a drug to treat brain disease might have off-target effects elsewhere in the body – that is very difficult to test in computer or cellular models.

      Here in the UK, a lot of testing happens in cells (in vitro) or by computer modelling. We have to screen lots and lots of compounds (sometimes thousands) to get a few potential drugs. Only those drugs that pass strict criteria are used to test on animals. Animal testing has actually been halved in the last 30 years and the UK is trying hard to fund research into alternative methods as much as possible. Here is a good website to read more about animals in research: http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/

Comments

  • Photo: Feebzie5

    Feebzie5 commented on :

    I’d say it depends on the animal, for example testing a drug for humans on a frog would be useless as it is a completely different class and would possibly be causing the frog unnecessary stress. I agree that animal testing can sometimes be cruel and I believe it is wrong to test cosmetics etc, however drugs are also tested on humans after animals and we can be fairly sure the drug itself will not hurt or kill the animal as it would be tested on cells in a lab before hand. As a student hoping to be a vet I do love animals however I believe that animal testing is made to look much worse than it is. In an ideal world it wouldn’t be necessary but it is unfortunately needed for scientific research.