Drug Testing on Animals

Professor Robert Winston has touched a rather controversial topic about testing drugs on animals before it is permitted for use on humans. According to the professor, we should not crib too much about drug testing on animals, on the contrary we should welcome this practice.

During a recent debate he made no bones about his opinion on animal testing. Lord Winston pointed a finger at Britain's universities for being sly about their hand in conducting experiments on animals.

"Let's face it, 95 per cent of us perfectly happily wear leather shoes. We should put the animal rights lobby into some kind of focus. Animal research has contributed hugely to physiological medical research in virtually every field. We need to say very clearly it would be unthinkable to take any drug which has not been tested on an intact animal. In fact, there is a case for having legislation to make it clear that a particular drug has only been possible for human consumption because of animal testing. This could be stamped on the packet, rather like a cigarette packet. I do not think we can argue there is any substitute for animal research," Professor Robert Winston said.



Source-Medindia