Should Rats be Used in Medical Testing

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Are Rats Important in Medical Testing Outline

Almost all disease-linked human genes have an equal counterpart in the makeup of the rat (AnimalResearch). This allows the rat to be used in a number of studies including anything from toxicology to genetics (Rats!). The reason for the success in the rats use in these fields is the equal gene makeup and how they behave to outside sources such as stress and toxins currently in the body (Rats!). This makes independent variables less of a problem because the rat will react to them the same way a human would. The rat is an ideal choice in medical research because of its ideal genetic makeup for testing cures to various diseases. The rat is a necessary component to medical testing and furthering medical science

“Living systems like human beings and animals are extremely complex. Studying cell cultures in a petri dish, while sometimes useful, does not provide the opportunity to study interrelated processes occurring in the central nervous system, endocrine system, and immune system” (ProCon). Nothing can compare to an actual human body when it comes to research and experimentation in the medical field, but rats offer a way for humans to test experiments safely on a source that will yield almost identical results. The rat has a near identical cell structure to a human and the physiology of a rat is also very similar. The first of these studies that centered on the physiology of the rat involved studying the effects of food and oxygen deprivation of the rat and were met with great success (Animal Research). Subsequent advances in the medical field thanks to experimentation on rats is why the rat is part of the 95% of animals that are most commonly used in animal testing.

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