Animal Experimentation

Animal Experimentation Free Online Research Papers Animal experimentation is a big part of medical progress. Opponents of animal testing point out the amount of animals used and the different types of animals used but if you look at it, it’s all for a good reason. Animal experimenters don’t do this just to do it. It’s for a purpose. There are thousands upon thousands of medical situations that couldn’t have been done without animal experimenting. Animal suffering is pointed out but for the most part animals go without feeling any pain. Animal experimentation has helped advance us so much medically that no matter what extent of suffering you find or what type of alternatives you find, it will never fully disappear. Animal experimentation is not a recent event. It‘s been around for thousands of years. â€Å"The earliest references to animal testing are found in the writings of the Greeks in the third and fourth centuries BC, with Aristotle (384-322 BC) and Erasistratus (304-258 BC) among the first to perform experiments on living animals† (Wikipedia, 14 Oct. 2006  ¶4). Erasistratus was a student at Aristotle’s school in Athens. It was there that he got the name â€Å"The Father Of Physiology† due to the work he did on the studies of the circulatory system and the nervous system on animals (Paul and Paul, 2001 p 24). Another person of great influence with the history of animal experimentation is Galen of Pergamum. During his time it was illegal for anyone to dissect a human therefore he had to move to animals for his learning and observations. â€Å"He put pigs, sheep, cattle, dogs, cats, bears, mice, monkeys, and even an elephant all under his knife; in doing so, he ‘put animal research on the map, not only for his contemporaries but also for the next fifteen centuries.’† (Paul and Paul, 2001 p 25). There are numerous types of experiments that were performed after animal testing was first discovered. After Galen, there were many other highly intelligent and important people who followed him in his ways of working on animals for medical purposes. One being William Harvey (1578-1657). His â€Å"discovery that blood circulates through the body, a discovery that has been called ‘the greatest physiological advance of the seventeenth century, and perhaps of all time,’ was based almost exclusively on animal experiments† (Paul and Paul, 2001 p 25). An English clergyman named Stephen Hales â€Å"used only a mare to develop techniques for measuring blood pressure and the capacity of the heart. He did this by inserting a long glass tube into one of the horse’s arteries and, with each heartbeat, measuring the rise and fall of the blood in the tube† (Paul and Paul, 2001 p 25-6). By performing experiments on animals during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there were many important medical benefits formed. In 1798 William Jenner worked with two deadly diseases, cowpox and horsepox. In doing this he was able to develop the smallpox vaccination which is incredibly important to human health today. â€Å"Louis Pasteur turned his attention to the diseases of humans and the higher animals, and to the elaboration of preventative vaccines. Together with his brilliant students Èmilie Roux, Charles Chamberland, and Louis Thuillier, he launched a series of experiments that resulted first in a vaccine for chicken cholera ? an economically damaging disease† (Paul and Paul, 2001 p 26-7). From there he was also able to make a vaccination for anthrax which was tested on sheep, goats, and cows. Another vaccination formed by Pasteur which was tested on animals was the rabies vaccination, another extremely important benefit to humans. Later on throughout the years we have had humans experience some painful, depressing, and fatal medical situations which have in most cases been helped to become less extreme with the help of animal testing. Some of the more important medical areas being helped by using animals is cancer, AIDS, and psychological issues. In some cases animal experimentation is the only logical way to find cures or vaccinations for these diseases or problems in human health. When it’s looked at that way, it needs to be decided which is more important, human health or the well-being of animals. Although cancer isn‘t the main reason for animal testing, it‘s become one of the most helped by animal testing. â€Å"It is of interest to see how important animal models have been in obtaining these [cancer treating] results†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Garattini and Van Bekkum, 1990 p 133). About 12% of animal experimentation is done involving cancer research (Baumans, 2004 Figure 2). In order to test anticancer agents liver microsomes are needed. Therefore if you were to use in vitro testing, using cells instead of an actual body of an animal, you wouldn’t be able to have that due to the fact of not having a real, living animal. â€Å"Major advances in cancer chemotherapy have come from the use of drugs in combination and from the use of optimum does schedules for each anticancer agent†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Garattini and Van Bekkum, 1990 p 136). â€Å"Because of the larger number of variables involved the tumor bearing animal is the only possible model to study complicated drug c ombinations and dose schedules† (ibid). Tumor bearing animals are most helpful in ranking doses by how effective they are. You could do this by in vitro but on the contrary if the experiment becomes too difficult it wouldn’t work as well as using a live animal. The whole AIDS experiment on animals started with scientists wanted to know what exactly caused A IDS. Wanting to know that led them to use many different species including chimpanzees. These animals were inoculated with blood from AIDS patients. These experiments weren’t much help and kind of seemed a waste of time due to the fact of getting no usable result. The scientists then did numerous experiments in the laboratory to figure out that a retrovirus, HIV, was the cause of AIDS. They then inoculated different species, including rabbits and chimpanzees, to see what would be the outcome. â€Å"Of the nonhuman primates only chimpanzees and gibbon apes could be infected with HIV in such a way that the virus could reisolated from the inoculated animals and that antibodies were produced against HIV proteins† (Garattini and Van Bekkum, 1990 p 153). The chimps were then observed for 4-6 years and nothing seemed to be wrong therefore â€Å"it seemed warranted to state that c himpanzees are relatively resistant to the pathogenic action of HIV† (Garattini and Van Bekkum, 1990 p 154). â€Å"Although animal experiments have not contributed to the discovery of HIV nor to the solution of the AIDS problem, there is a great need for animal models for some burning questions in AIDS research† (Garattini and Van Bekkum, 1990 p 154). Some of these questions being â€Å"What is the cause of the T helper cell depletion in AIDS patients? What is the cause of presenile dementia in HIV-infected individuals? Do microbial factors have an influence on the development of AIDS?† (Garattini and Van Bekkum, 1990 p 154-5). Animal experimentation has really helped finding solutions when it comes to having problems in the brain. A drug was discovered called Chlorpormazine. It was supposed to be used for allergy disorders but became looked at more closely when it caused â€Å"unusual sedative action on animals† (Garattini and Van Bekkum, 1990 p 52). Scientists did a few trials with this drug and found it to have â€Å"remarkable effects on the human mind† (Garattini and Van Bekkum, 1990 p 51). Tests led scientists to discover that the cause of these effects was dopamine, a key neurotransmitter in this situation. Animal experimentation has also helped us advance in finding help for Parkinson’s disease. â€Å"When treated with large doses of these drugs [antipsychotic agents] the animals become immobile and could be placed and remained in the most awkward positions† (Garattini and Van Bekkum, 1990 p 51). About a month later it was discovered that a shot of DOPA could prevent this immobility from occurring. Knowing this then led to scientists seeing that the cause of Parkinson’s disease was caused by lack of dopamine. From there a treatment was formed, L-DOPA. Animal experimentation also helps with understanding the oxygen intake and metabolic activity of different parts of the brain. There are certain techniques that can be done to see how the brain replies to different stimuli. â€Å"To develop these imaging techniques animal experiments are necessary. For example, radioactive precursors or ligands for receptor studies have to be tried out in animals before they can be used on man.† (Garattini and Van Bekkum, 1990 p 52). Most opponents of animal experimentation point out how much that animals are suffering. In most cases they are quite over exaggerators. â€Å"Many claim that animals are tortured, and another frequent complaint is that animal research is all about profits. But it is hard to see how anyone would make a profit from torturing animals, or why medical research charities, who are trying to find curs for debilitating illnesses like cancer or AIDS, would spend their money torturing animals† (Festing, 2005  ¶ 9). Over half of the animals feel little to no pain at all. â€Å"According to the 2000 USDA Annual Report, 63% of animals experienced slight or momentary pain, such as an injection. 29% of the research procedures employed anesthesia and postoperative painkillers. In 7% of the procedures, neither anesthesia nor pain medication could be used, as they would have interfered with research results† (The Foundation of Biomedical Research, 2003  ¶ 3). â€Å"In many countries its mandatory by national law to grade the level of discomfort for animals in experiments in minor, moderate, and severe† (Baumans, 2004  ¶ 3). The welfare of animals included in these experiments is important to scientists even thought most opponents of animal testing would disagree. â€Å"One argument is that consideration of pain and suffering for animals should be legally equivalent to the considerations for humans† (Wikipedia, 14 Oct. 2006  ¶ 3). For the most part animals are treated reasonably well. Small animals are kept in plastic boxes that are either clear or white, slightly bigger animals are kept in containers about twice the size of a shoebox, and the large animals are kept in wire cages. The cages need to be in livable conditions, clean, and warm. They also need to have veterinary care available. There are a variety of different animals used in animal testing. Examples being invertebrates, rodents, rabbits, dogs, non-human primates, and cats. The invertebrates used usually consist of fruit flies and nematodes. â€Å"These animals offer scientists a number of advantages over vertebrates, including their short life cycle and the ease with which large numbers can be studied† (Wikipedia, 14 Oct. 2006  ¶11). They, also, tend to be cheaper than any other animal used in experimentation. The most common species of rodents is mice. They are the most popular â€Å"because of their availability, size, low cost, east of handling, and fast reproduction rate† (Wikipedia, 14 Oct. 2006  ¶13). Mice are known to be the best model of inherited human disease and share 99% of their genes with humans. Albino rabbits are used to check eye irritancy tests since they tend to have less flow of tears and lack of eye pigment. Another test rabbits are used in are for skin irritancy test . The main type of dog used is beagles due to the fact of them being gentle and their friendliness. They are used in toxicity tests, dental experiments, and surgeries. Non-human primates include baboons, macaques, marmosets, and chimpanzees. These animals are mostly used in research for â€Å"HIV, neurology, behavior, cognition, reproduction, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, malaria, respiratory viruses, infectious disease, genetics, xenotransplantation, drug abuse, and also in vaccine and drug testing† (Wikipedia, 14 Oct. 2006  ¶24). There are many animal rights activists that would say there are numerous amounts of alternatives for animal experimentation. Two examples being the â€Å"3 R approach† and using in vitro situations instead of in vivo. The â€Å"3 R’s† stand for refinement, reduction, and replacement. Refinement refers to lowering animal suffering and/or death and to increase animal welfare for the ones still used in experimentation. Reduction refers to decreasing â€Å"the number of animals used and the number of experiments performed to obtain or confirm a particular result† (Paul and Paul, 2001 p 198). Replacement refers to using non-animal experiments instead of animal ones if you can achieve the same result. The problem with refinement is that it would cost too much money whereas reduction could save money, although, in some cases it may be necessary to use more animals to get an accurate figure to make vaccines or help curing diseases. Some of the non-animal experimen tal methods would be using in vitro studies. In vitro is using animals models or cells of animals instead of using the entire animal body. â€Å"Others say that they [in vitro cell culture techniques] are unlikely to ever provide enough information about the complex interactions of living systems† (Wikipedia, 14 Oct. 2006  ¶79). Animal experimentation is a must when it comes to medical advancements. It doesn’t seem fair for people to say animal experimentation is wrong because if you think about it, if animal experimentation is wrong should we all become vegetarians? We slaughter cows, pigs, chickens, and turkeys to make food for ourselves but that’s OK? Therefore any opponent to animal experimentation that isn’t a vegetarian shouldn’t have the right to speak about animals testing as being wrong if they’re willing to kill animals for themselves. Using cows, pigs, chickens, and turkeys for food is necessary for most people in the same context that using mice, rabbits, dogs, and monkeys to help cure diseases is necessary. References Animal testing. ASPCA. animaland.org/asp/realissues/testing.asp (14 Oct. 2006). Animal testing. Wikipedia.com. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Animal_Testing (14 Oct. 2006). Baumans V. 2004. Use of animals in experimental research: an ethical dilemma? Gene Therapy. 11: S64-6. nature.com/gt/journal/v11/n1s/full/3302371a. html (9 Oct. 2006). Festing S. 2005. The animal research debate. The Political Quarterly. 76.4: 568. http:// www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-923X.2005.00720.x (15 Oct. 2006). Garattini S, Van Bekkum DW, editors. The importance of animal experimentation for safety and biomedical research. Boston (MA): Kluwer Academic Publishers; 1990. Paul EF, Paul J, editors. Why animal experimentation matters: the use of animals in medical research. New Brunswick (USA): Transaction Publishers; 2001. Quick facts about animal research. The Foundation of Biomedical Research. fbresearch.org/survivors/quickfacts.htm (14 Oct. 2006) Research Papers on Animal ExperimentationGenetic EngineeringStandardized TestingEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenBringing Democracy to AfricaMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesQuebec and CanadaDefinition of Export QuotasThe Spring and AutumnArguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)Personal Experience with Teen Pregnancy

How to Speak Like a Italian Like

How to Speak Like a Italian Like If you want to learn Italian, forget your native tongue. If you want to speak Italian like a native, then spend some time in Italy speaking only Italian. If you want to read Italian, then pick up an Italian newspaper and peruse whatever section interests you. The point is, if you want to achieve competency in Italian, you must think like an Italian- and that means getting rid of the helpers that are real hindrances and standing on your own two (linguistic) feet. Bilingual Dictionaries Are a Crutch Speaking English to your friends is a waste of time if your goal is to speak Italian. Making grammatical comparisons between English and Italian are worthless. It sounds counterintuitive, but in the end, each language has rules and forms that are unique and sometimes illogical. And translating back and forth in your head before speaking or reading is the ultimate fools errand that will never lead to real-time speaking competence. Interact With Native Speakers So many people approach language as a science and get completely tongue-tied- witness the e-mail questions this SiteGuide receives daily about obscure Italian grammatical points and textbook recommendations. Learners obsess over minutiae, as if Italian could be dissected, instead of speaking Italian and interacting with native speakers. Imitate them. Mimic them. Ape them. Copy them. Let go of your ego and make believe youre an actor trying to sound Italian. But please- no books with something else to memorize. That turns off students immediately and is not effective in the least. Ignore English Grammar If there’s one bit of advice I can offer to anyone studying Italian, regardless of your level: Stop thinking in English! Ignore English grammar- you’re wasting a lot of mental energy trying to translate literally and construct sentences according to English syntax. In a letter to the editor in The New York Times Magazine, Lance Strate, an associate professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University in The Bronx reinforces this point: ...it does not follow that all languages are equal, and therefore interchangeable. If this were true, the translation would be a relatively simple and straightforward affair, and learning another language would involve nothing more than learning to substitute one code for another, much like using Roman numerals. The truth is that different languages differ in highly significant ways, in grammar as well as vocabulary, which is why each language represents a unique way of codifying, expressing, and understanding the world. We do not become fluent in a new language until we stop translating and simply start thinking in the new language, because each language represents a distinctive medium of thought. Let Go of Your Fear of Making Mistakes Your goal should be to communicate, not sound as if you have a Ph.D. in Italian grammar (you’ll never do it, anyway, since there are only a small number of native Italians who are that well-versed in the intricacies of their own language. But certainly, most of them can communicate their every emotion, fear, want, and need.). Your biggest mistake, and what will hold you back, is using English as a crutch and being afraid of opening your mouth wide and singing that lovely language called la bella lingua. At the risk of sounding discouraging, a lot of language learners just don’t get it, and never will. It’s similar to taking dance lessons. You can put cut-out feet on the floor with numbers on them and take lessons from an expert, but if you don’t have rhythm, and you don’t have that swing, you’re always and forever going to look like a klutz on the dance floor, no matter how many lessons you take and how much you practice. So what do you do if you’re not a good dancer and weren’t born with natural rhythm? Scripted Responses Learning scripted responses in foreign languages is unproductive. Every textbook for beginners devotes many pages to dialogue that’s stilted and simply doesn’t occur in real life. So why teach it?! If you ask a person on the street Dov’e’ il museo? and he doesn’t respond according to the script you memorized, then what? You’re stuck, because there is an infinite number of potential responses, and none of us has enough time on the face of this earth to memorize them. And that person on the street is going to keep on walking because he’s headed to a great pizzeria. Learning scripted responses in foreign languages encourages a false sense of confidence. It doesnt translate into real-time speaking competence nor will you understand the musicality of the language. It’s like looking at a musical score and expecting to be a master violinist just because youve memorized the notes. Instead, you have to play it, and play it again and again. Likewise with the Italian language. Play with it! Practice! Listen to native Italian speakers and mimic them. Laugh at yourself trying to pronounce gli correctly. Italian, more so than many languages, is musical, and if you remember that analogy it will come easier. There is no secret, no Rosetta Stone, no silver bullet when it comes to learning a language. You have to listen and repeat ad nauseum. You will make a quantum leap in learning Italian when you abandon your native tongue and disengage from the grammar that you implicitly learned when you were a child.