As we become more advanced in technology, we are constantly in need of new ways to test our creations. To this end, many companies, corporations and even independent scientists, have turned to many, easily available means of fulfilling this requirement. Unfortunately for the little beasts, there are many animals that fit the requirements for various tests, causing them to captured and bred extensively for these purposes.
It’s not all bad, some creatures, like mice, reproduce quickly and are easy to take care of. By breeding rats and mice exclusively for this purpose, scientists have managed to make great leaps of progress in recent times. Of course, there are still people against this act as well, after all, do those animals no experience pain? Still, many scientists consider them to be a necessary evil and it is quite true that we owe many advances in many field due to the use of rats and mice in lab experiments.
Testing products on the skin is not all we do, some experiments involve placing electrodes inside of certain animals, to test brain functions, among other things. I suppose, for a human to endure these experiments would be utterly cruel and no one would agree with the act if this were the case. Shouldn’t all living things have this same privilege?
The idea of self awareness places a large role in distinguishing the moral choice and humans tend to draw the lines at their own well being too easily. Should it not be that, with a sound respect for all life, we would be persuaded to find more humane ways to achieve our ends? Yet, survival of the species relies on animal experiments to a large degree, how could we possibly endure the suffering of millions simply to suit out own needs, Even if those millions happen to be non-sentient beings?
Speaking about human trials, while it is illegal in many countries to conduct cloning experiments on humans, there are quite a few scientists that claim to have accomplished the feat. What are the moral standings on these, are these not being simply bred in a lab, so therefore, just as with rats, would it not be possible to conduct experiments on them instead? Even if this was okay, it could not be done. From cloning experiments carried out with animals, it is evident that we have much more to learn before we are able to practically clone even the simplest lifeforms.