animalexperimentation. In the 1940s Howard W. Florey and Ernst B. Chain showed penicillin to bedramatically effective as an antibiotic by the mouse protection test. Without this test the thisimportant antibiotic may never have been passed for human use.Another huge drug that is used in the everyday lives of many hunams is insulin. Beforeinsulin was introduced to humans, people with diabetes typically died. Once the lifesaving drugwas tested on rabbits and mice, humans were able to use it and live with the disease. The number of animals used in the US per year is outrageous (see table 3). Although theoverall numbers have reduced in the in the past 22 years. This could be due to the new laws andregulations that are constantly being passed, or to the onset of alternatives. Source: Scientific American. The Numbers of ResearchAnimals. http.//www.sciam.com/0297issue/0297trendsbox.html (16, Feb. 2000).As stated many times, animal experimentation has led to great advances in medicine, butthere are other ways to make great leaps in medicine then testing these chemicals on thousands Secor 6of animals. The most known alternatives are known as the three Rs. They are refinement,reduction, and replacement. These three alternatives provide a way to minimize animal use andsuffering. Yet doing this without compromising the quality of the scientific work being done.While having the ultimate goal always being to totally replace animal models.Refinement is one of the stepping stones that will help reach the ultimate goal. This is themodification of any procedures that operate from the time a animal is born until its death. This isto minimize the pain and distress experienced by the animal, and also to improve its well-being.The experience of pain and other stress is likely to result in changes in the animal which haspotential to raise the variability of experimental results. With that in mind it is in the best interestof scientists to ensure that the condi...
