Throughout history, animals are widely used in different fields.

The practice of using

animals for medical research has come under criticism by animal protection and animal rights
groups. This report will talk about why animal research is important, the regulations that must
be followed when conduction animal research experiments and benefits that come from animal
research,
Drug testing using animals became important in the twentieth century. In the fall of 1937,
more than 100 US citizens died after consuming Elixir Sulfanilamide. A pharmaceutical
company in the USA created a preparation of sulfanilamide, using using diethylene glycol (DEG)
as a solvent. DEG was poisonous to humans, but the company's chief pharmacist and chemist,
Harold Cole Watkins, was not aware of this. Watkins added raspberry flavoring to the drug,
which he had dissolved in DEG, and the company marketed the product. The preparation led to
mass poisoning causing the deaths of more than a hundred people, mostly children. No animal
testing was done. The public outcry caused by this incident and other similar incidents led to the
passing of the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requiring safety testing of drugs on
animals before they could be marketed. Another similar incident was during the 1950-60s.
Thalidomide was used to reduce morning sickness during pregnancy. However, thalidomide had
defects. Many babies died and 15,000 were born with malformed limbs. Thalidomide was tested
in animals, however not all the necessary tests were performed. The Food and Drug
Administration in the US did not approve the sale of thalidomide because of these incomplete
tests. After the problems with Thalidomide were discovered, the full range of tests were carried
out and it was shown to cause birth defects across a wide range of species. Because of this
incident, it is now a requirement to carry out tests on pregnant animals.
Regulations are in place to secure that animals are carried out in a humane way.

To help minimize the harm animals may experience while being studied in the laboratory,
researchers are required to follow a set of principles called the Three Rs. The Three Rs are:
replacement, reduction, and refinement. Replacement refers to methods that replace or avoid the
use of animals during research such as computer modelling or human volunteers instead of
animals. Reduction refers to minimizing the number of animals used. This can be done by
sharing information with other researchers so that they are not doing the same experiments or by
improving experimental techniques. The last R, refinement, refers to minimize pain, suffering,
and distress that may be experienced by the animals. An example of refinement would be using
appropriate anesthetics and/or painkillers. All research using animals in the United States, such
as at universities, is regulated by the Animal Welfare Act. The Laboratory Animal Resource
Center (LARC) provides oversight for the care and well-being of all animals used for research,
teaching, and testing at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center of El Paso. The LARC is
accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care
(AAALAC) in animal housing facilities and provides animal husbandry services, veterinary care,
training, and technical services to TTUHSC El Paso researchers and instructors. The Three Rs
are implied in the AWA and any scientists planning to use animals in their research must first
demonstrate why there is no alternative, that the number of animals used and any suffering
caused will be kept to a minimum.
Decades of medical studies has made several diseases treatable and medical
breakthroughs such as diabetes. In El Paso, 50% of all patients admitted to local hospitals have
diabetes-related complications. Dogs were crucial to the research that identified the cause of
diabetes, which led to the development of insulin.