Animals have been used routinely as models for the development of medical techniques and strategies. They have also been used in the development of pharmaceuticals and other biomedical products such as heart valves, artificial joints, and monitors. The techniques necessary to perform heart, kidney, and other organ transplants were first refined using chimpanzees, rats, and calves. Antibiotics, hormones, and chemotherapeutic drugs have been tested for their effectiveness and for possible side effects using laboratory animals that are very sensitive and responsive to such agents. Biologists throughout the world have bred research animals that readily produce certain types of cancers that resemble cancers found in humans. By using these animals instead of humans to screen potential drugs, the risk to humans is greatly reduced. The emerging field of biotechnology is producing techniques that enable researchers to manipulate the genetic makeup of organisms. Research animals are used to perfect these techniques and highlight possible problems.

Animal-rights activists are very concerned about using animals for these purposes. They are concerned about research that seems to have little value in relation to the suffering these animals are forced to endure. Members of the American Liberation Front (ALF), an animal-rights organization, vandalized a laboratory at Michigan State University where mink were used in research to assess the toxicity of certain chemicals. Members of this group poured acid on tables and in drawers containing data, smashed equipment, and set fires in the laboratory. This attack destroyed 32 years of research records, including data used for developing water-quality standards. In one year, 80 similar actions were carried out by groups advocating animal rights.

What type of restrictions or controls should be put on such research? Where do you draw the line between "essential" and "nonessential" studies? Do you support the use of live animals in experiments that may alleviate human suffering?

Moral and ethical issues are very thought provoking and require a great deal of investigation in order to arrive at valid and reliable conclusions. What other parallel situation can you think of that might provide in site into answering these questions? How do cultural biases influence your thoughts? How does your educational background influence supporting or not supporting the experiments? What factors might cause you to change your position? What in your judgment constitutes an essential or nonessential study?