Replacing animal would actually improve the quality and humanity of science. The development of non-animal testing is growing fast. And because of this development, animals have been replaced in toxicity testing, neuroscience and drug development. But there is still work to be done. Here, you can educate yourself on the many alternative to animal testing:
Cell Cultures: Cell cultures are cells that are grown under a controlled environment, outside their natural environment. Cells are removed from tissue, and they can be maintained under controlled conditions and kept in body heat. Almost every kind of cell can be grown in a lab. This scientific technology has already accurately mimicked the heart, lungs, kidney and gut. The end goal would be most likely to be to eventually mimic the whole human body. Since these cells are so accurate they are the perfect scientific technology to use for testing.
Human tissue: Human skin cells and tissue left over from operations and procedures can be used to more accurately research if certain chemicals will burn or harm human skin. Human tissue can also be used postmortem to test while still attached to the human body.
Computer models: With how advanced our technology is getting every day it’s no surprise that laboratories are already able to replicate aspects of the human body. They can be used to conduct virtual experiments based on existing information and data.
Volunteer studies: Modern technology has allowed machines to use scanning and recording techniques to study human volunteers safely. Brain imaging machines can monitor progression of brain disease. A technique called micro dosing can measure how very small amounts of drugs behave in the human body.
But if their are so many available alternatives, why is animal testing still used? Scientist insist that alternatives cannot completly replace animal testing at this time. It seems as though research with animals is still unfortunatly essential and the alternatives can’t replicate or model the human body as well as animals.
