Animal rights, human wrongs?
The current issue of EMBO Reports features a Talking Point collection of articles on the use of animals in scientific research. Frank Gannon writes in his introduction:
The balance between the rights of animals and their use in biomedical research is a delicate issue with huge societal implications. The debate over whether and how scientists should use animal models has been inflammatory, and the opposing viewpoints are difficult to reconcile. Many animal-rights activists call for nothing less than the total abolition of all research involving animals. Conversely, many scientists insist that some experiments require the use of animals and want to minimize regulation, arguing that it would impede their research. Most scientists, however, try to defend the well-established and generally beneficial practice of selective experimentation on animals, but struggle to do so on an intellectual basis. Somehow, society must find the middle ground—avoiding the cruel and unnecessary abuse of animals in research while accepting and allowing their use if it benefits society.
In any debate, one should first know the facts and arguments from each side before making an educated judgement.
The article continues here.
The other articles in the Talking Point are:
Animal research: a moral science by Bernard E. Rollin.
The ethics of animal research by Simon Festing and Robin Wilkinson.
