Ethical And Scientific Considerations Regarding Animal Testing - amazonia.fiocruz.br

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, Consideratiojs to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Analysis and Discussion

Competing interests: HRF and NB are employed by Physicians Committee for This web page Medicine, which is a non-governmental organization which promotes higher ethical standards in research and alternatives to the use of animals in research, education, and training.

These principles encouraged researchers to work to reduce the number of animals used in experiments to the minimum considered necessary, refine or limit the pain and distress to which animals are exposed, and replace the use of animals with non-animal alternatives when possible. Despite the attention brought to this issue by Russell and Burch and since, the number Ethical And Scientific Considerations Regarding Animal Testing animals used in research and testing has continued to increase, raising serious ethical and scientific issues. This Overview provides a brief summary of the ethical and scientific considerations regarding the use of animals in research and testing, and accompanies a Collection entitled Animals, Research, and Alternatives: Measuring Progress 50 Years Laterwhich aims to spur ethical and scientific advancement.

One of the most influential attempts to examine and affect the use of animals in research can be traced back to, with the publication of The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique [1]. William Russell and Rex Burch published this seminal book in response to marked growth in medical and veterinary research and the concomitant increase in the numbers of animals used.

Despite the attention brought to this issue by Russell and Burch, the number of animals used in research and testing has continued to increase.

Recent estimates suggest that at least million animals are used each year worldwide [2]. However, this is likely an underestimate, and it is impossible to accurately Ethical And Scientific Considerations Regarding Animal Testing the number of animals used in or for experimentation. Full reporting of all animal use is not required or made public in most countries. Nevertheless, based on available information, it is clear that the number of animals used in research has not significantly declined over the past several decades. In addition, serious questions have been raised about the effectiveness of animal testing and research in predicting anticipated outcomes [5] — [13]. This two-day symposium aimed to advance the study of the ethical and scientific issues surrounding the use of animals in testing and research, with particular emphasis on the adequacy of current protections and the promise and challenges of developing alternatives to the use of animals in basic research, pharmaceutical research and development, and regulatory toxicology.

Speakers who contributed to the conference reviewed and contributed new knowledge regarding the cognitive and affective capabilities of animals, revealed through ethology, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and related disciplines.

Speakers also explored the dimensions of harm associated with animal research, touching on the ethical implications regarding the use of animals in research. Finally, several contributors presented the latest scientific advances in developing alternatives to the use of animals in pharmaceutical research and development and regulatory toxicity testing. This Collection combines some papers that were written following this conference with an aim to highlight relevant progress and research. This Overview provides a brief summary of doubt. Mercury Athletic Case very ethical and scientific considerations regarding the use of animals in research and testing, some of which are highlighted in the accompanying Collection.

Apprehension around burgeoning medical research in the late s and the first half of the 20 th century sparked concerns over the use of humans and animals in research [14][15]. Suspicions around the use of humans were deepened with the revelation of Ethical And Scientific Considerations Regarding Animal Testing exploitive research projects, including a series of medical experiments on large numbers of prisoners by the Nazi German regime during World War II and the Tuskegee syphilis study.

These abuses served as the impetus for the establishment of the Nuremberg Code, Declaration of Helsinki, and the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research and the resulting Belmont Report [16] — [18]. Today, these guidelines Ethical And Scientific Considerations Regarding Animal Testing a platform for the protection of human research subjects, including the principles of respect, beneficence, and justice, as well as special protections for vulnerable populations. Laws to protect animals in research have also been established.

Introduction

The British Parliament passed the first set of protections for animals inwith the Cruelty to Animals Act [19]. Approximately ninety years later, the U. Subsequent national and international laws and guidelines have provided basic protections, but there are some significant inconsistencies among current regulations [21].

For example, the U. In contrast, certain dogs and cats have received special attention and protections. Whereas the U.

Animal Welfare Act excludes birds, rats and mice, the U. While strides have been made in the protection of both human and animal research subjects, the nature of these protections is markedly different. Human research protections emphasize specific principles aimed at protecting the interests of individuals and populations, sometimes to the detriment of the scientific question.

This differs significantly from animal research guidelines, where the importance of the scientific question being researched commonly takes precedence over the interests of individual animals. Although scientists and ethicists have published numerous articles relevant to the ethics of animal research, https://amazonia.fiocruz.br/scdp/blog/story-in-italian/comparing-and-contrasting-socrates-plato-and-aristotle.php animal research guidelines do not articulate the rationale for the central differences between human and animal research guidelines. Currently, the majority of guidelines operate on the presumption that animal research should proceed based on broad, perceived benefits to humans.

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These guidelines are generally permissive of animal research independent of the costs to the individual animal as long as benefits seem achievable. The concept of costs to individual animals can be further examined through the growing body of research on animal emotion and cognition.

Studies published in the last few decades have dramatically increased Ethica understanding of animal sentience, suggesting that animals' potential for experiencing harm is greater than has been appreciated and that current protections need to be reconsidered.]