Animal Testing

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What do you think?

What is animal testing?

Animal testing and genetics

Creating a cloned embryo to produce the cells would mean that the patient would not reject the transplant or need anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their life.

Most scientists say that they would not create a full human being but produce ‘stem cells’ in the laboratory so that they can be grown into any particular organ that someone needs.

Cloning animals will lead to the possibility of cloning humans.

Sometimes scientists genetically manipulate animals as a first step to experimenting with humans.

The law

Does animal testing work?

Is animal testing right?

The debate

There is to be a TV debate about testing on animals for medical research.

In groups of three, use the information you have gathered so far to plan a debate. One of you is the chair, one is against testing and one agrees that testing is a good idea. Remember you are discussing animal testing for medical research not cosmetics.

Peaceful protests?

The Christian view

Christians believe that animals are part of God’s creation and should be respected. All Christians are against cruelty to animals but some do see experiments for medical research as a necessary evil.

God made man ‘in His image’. Many Christian scientists believe that God gave them the brains and abilities to find cures for humans by experimenting on animals and to not use these abilities would be denying God’s plan for them.

In Genesis God told Adam to ‘rule over’ all living creatures. To many Christians this implies that God created humans as superior to animals and so man can use animals in experiments as long as it is done for the right reasons and with proper care.

Jesus said ‘Look at the birds of the air…are you not much more valuable than they?’ Some Christians say that this gives them the right to use animals in experiments because humans are of more value.

When God created the world and all that is in it he saw that ‘it was good’. Some say that this means we should not experiment on animals because they are a part of God’s wonderful creation.

What the Christian Churches think