Animal Testing: Ethical Dilemmas and the Rise of Scientific Alternatives
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Science & Technology (Biotechnology, Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine), Indian Polity and Governance (Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960), Environment.
Mains:
GS Paper 3: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.
GS Paper 4 (Ethics): Human Values; Conscience; Ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; application of ethics in human actions.
Key Highlights from the News
The article argues that it is a moral imperative for humans to end the suffering of animals in laboratories.
There are scientific doubts about how beneficial animal experiments are for humans, as results from animals are not always applicable to humans.
With the growth of modern science, new alternative methods for experiments have become available. Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are important among these.
Conducting experiments on artificial muscles, skin, and other organs grown in the laboratory will help avoid using living animals.
For this, the author demands that The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 should be amended to include, as a guiding principle, that alternative methods should be used wherever possible.
Instead of dissection of animals for educational purposes, 2D and 3D visual models on computers should be used.
Along with legal changes, it is essential to change our values, scientific procedures, and awareness regarding animal suffering.
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