The Use of Animal on Biomedical Research

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The Use of Animals in Biomedical Research Animal experimentation has played a central role in biomedical research throughout history. For many years it has also been an issue of public and philosophical discussion. According to the Department of Biology at The University of New Mexico biomedical research is defined as “the area of science that looks for ways to prevent and treat diseases that cause illness and death in people and in animals”. The use of animals in research is essential to the development of new and more effective methods for diagnosing and treating diseases that affect both humans and animals. Scientists use animals to learn more about health problems, and to assure the safety of new medical treatments. In order to obtain this, medical researchers need to understand health problems before they can develop ways to treat them. Some diseases and health problems involve processes that can only be study in living organisms. In the United States every person has benefited from the results of biomedical research. According to the World Health Organization life expectancy in the United States has improved from an average of 49 years around the 1900s to 69.3 years in 2004. In addition, research done by the National Institute on Aging implies that it is expected that by 2030 one in five Americans will be 65 or older and the number of people in the range of 85 years will come close to 10 million. This increase in the number of older Americans in mostly due to medical advances that have been based on animal research. Data collected by the United States Department of Agriculture has shown that each year about 20 million animals are used in biomedical research projects with about 90% of those animals being mice, rats, and other rodents. In most cases these animals are specifically bred for research purposes and are purchased from animal breeders.
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