Dear Editor:
Although I applaud that RuthAnne Frost is continuing a much-needed dialogue on the issue of animal experimentation in her Sept. 2 column “Two opinions, one general concern,” I believe some of her statements are scientifically, historically, and factually false.
It appears that the author of the column got most of her information on the alleged benefits of animal experimentation from the industry lobby group “Institute for Laboratory Animal Research.” However, it is absurd to look to vested interest groups for information regarding the very interests they are designed to protect. This is akin to asking General Motors and Ford about air pollution or Phillip Morris about the health risks associated with Tobacco. ILAR exists solely as a propaganda machine for the experimenters and not as impartial evidence of the validity of animal research.
ILAR apparently makes the absurd claim that “virtually all our medical advances over the last century have been made using animals.” Apparently, ILAR does not consider the entire field of radiology to be a “medical advance” since the development of radiology was through basic physics and engineering and has nothing to do with physiology or testing it on a living organism whatsoever.
ILAR also leaves out all evidence that shows that animal models are worthless in predicting human responses. Cigarette smoking was thought to be healthy for decades based on animal studies. Penicillin was shelved for over a decade because it was found ineffective in rabbits. More recently, the beneficial osteoporosis drug Forteo was delayed coming onto the market because of misleading data that it caused cancer in rats. It does not do so in humans.
The bottom line is that animal models are poor predictors of what will occur in humans. Many substances are harmful in animals, such as chocolate in dogs, aspirin in cats, penicillin in guinea pigs, and Alka Seltzer in birds; but cause no harmful effects in humans. Likewise, many drugs such as the anti-diabetes drug Rezulin, the anti-depressant Zelmid, and the diet drug Fen-Phen pass animal trials and go on to maim and kill humans. All of these facts can be backed up in third party peer-reviewed scientific literature.
It is time for the scientific community to shift away from these outdated modalities and get into the twenty-first century of medical research and use methodologies like pharmacogenomics, clinical research, epidemiology, and DNA chips which will actually benefit the human population.
Jeremy BeckhamPresident of Primate Freedom Project student groupMedical Laboratory Sciences, Freshman