Annotated Bibliography 2 (Assignment 19)
Festing, S., & Wilkinson, R. (2007, May 18). The Ethics of Animal Research. EMBO Reports, 8(6), 526-530. doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400993
This article discusses the use of animals in labs and testing done on the animals in England. This article actually supports the use of animal testing in laboratories as long as it is done as safe as possible. The authors discuss the many improvements England's legislative body has done throughout the years for animal testing. They mention the 3R’s, which is replacement, reduction, and refinement of animal testing in all of it’s aspects. The article really promotes the safe reduction of animals that are used for lab testing, however the authors still believe that animal testing is necessary for some processes. They support their statements with evidence from credited sources, such as scientific organizations or studies conducted on people’s opinions. No responsible scientist wants to use animals or cause them unnecessary suffering if it can be avoided, and therefore scientists accept controls on the use of animals in research. (Festing & Wilkinson 2.) Good science and good experimental design also help to reduce the number of animals used in research as they allow scientists to gather data using the minimum number of animals required. (Festing & Wilkinson 24) Although animals cannot yet be completely replaced, it is important that researchers maximize reduction and refinement. (Festing & Wilkinson 27). In conclusion, RDS considers that the use of animals in research can be ethically and morally justified. The benefits of animal research have been enormous and it would have severe consequences for public health and medical research if it were abandoned. (Festing & Wilkinson 30). Nevertheless, the use of the 3Rs is crucial to continuously reduce the number and suffering of animals in research. Furthermore, a good regulatory regime—as found in the UK—can help to reduce further the number of animals used. Therefore, we support a healthy and continued debate on the use of animals in research. (Festing & Wilkinson 30).This article is credible since it was published in magazine that is specifically created to talk about certain issues in the medical world. This magazine is known to have correct data and information about the issues is publishes. Additionally, the authors are a part of the Science Communications Office. They deal with many scientific findings and talk about it with the public. Finally, the article has about 20 plus references. I think this article would be very beneficial for my research question since I am researching about laboratory animals and the ethical and moral issues connected to them. This article supports the use of animal testing, which allows me to see one side of the argument.