Nursing Review
Human health is an all-important aspect of human beings. All of us want to live in a state of body wellness. In a bid to have medicinal products, there is experimentation that is typically carried out to ensure that the products are safe for consumption. Over a long time, animal testing has been in place. It is a scientific technique, through which procedures get to be carried on living animals in researching the basic biology and also on diseases. The process, however, has been faced with ethical concerns. In this essay paper, the way through which genetic engineering can be used to eradicate on the ethical issues that are in place is wholly discussed.
Firstly, animal experimentation becomes unethical to many people due to the pain and suffering that the animals undergo. Those against this procedure argue out that the benefits that the testing brings are unproven, and the whole thing brings agony to the animals under test. It is in this bid that technological advancements present upon genetically engineered version to avoid the animals going through such suffering and pain (Cheluvappa, & Eri, 2017). Genetic engineering is a direct manipulation of animal genes. It differs from the traditional way through which breeding occurred. Scientists under this technology are in a position to transfer the beneficial genes from an animal to another. The goal of this biotechnology advancement in animal testing is to come up with a genetically engineered mammal that cannot perceive the environmental changes and therefore avoiding suffering. The mammal should, however, be similar to the healthy experimental animals for the efficacy of the testing.
Currently, there are various ways that genetic engineering is involved in animals. Terms such as genetically altered, genetically modified, genetically manipulated, or biotechnology delivered are all about genetically engineered animals. As the technique began, transgenesis was highly used (Liu & Fan, 2017). Scientific technology is the transferring that occurs of the genetic material from an organism to another living one. The recent application in the method involves the deletion of genes, or they manipulate the already existing genes. The change occurs in the nuclear or the counterpart mitochondrial DNA. In the creation of these mammals that lack sentience, the genetic material is substituted, deleted, or added through technological intervention.
Additionally, cloning can be done to achieve in obtaining genetically engineered mammal. Here, replication is done of specific cell types that are derived from a particular portion of the DNA of the cell. DNA cloning, reproductive cloning, or therapeutic cloning can all be used to achieve this desirable genetic trait of lacking sentience. In reproductive cloning, there is an intention of generating an animal that has the same nuclear DNA as the existing mammals that undergo testing. In using somatic cell nuclear transfer, the required traits for creating these animals are easily obtained, and this, in result, avoids using the real animals that have brought controversy. A biomedical application in these animals is extensive. Modeling of human diseases in understanding disease mechanisms or assisting drug development is applicable (Liu & Fan, 2017). The scientists can quickly pinpoint the effects and therefore understand why a particular event occurs and what can be done to stop or reverse this process. Without using live animal experimentation, disease models have been fully understood. Drug discovery, risk assessment, and also drug development is now easily carried out without any suffering to the animals and in a faster and expensive way (Yerasi & Manchikanti, 2019).
Consequently, there is a big debate on whether this approach will be able to solve the ethical issues that are associated with animal experimentation. On creating these mammals that lack sentience, there is divided opinion over the same. Perhaps the controversial issues lie in Xenotransplantation. It is an activity through which cells are transplanted. Genetic engineering still presents topics related to welfare and the wellbeing of the animals ((Liu & Fan, 2017). With studies revealing that the engineered animals may again suffer from developmental abilities. Another concern is that transgenic animals are mosaics and therefore carry those Transgenes with them in some of their cells. There are high levels that occur in life wastage. The wastage comes upon due to embryo losses, fetuses, and mature animals. Those against the idea argue that the technique is against the rights of animals, and the scientists manipulate the animals for human needs. However, I differ with this school of thought (Bailey, 2019).
To sum it up, genetic engineering is the solution to the problems that animal experimentation presents to matters that relate to ethics. In creating animals that lack sentience, this means that more research will be achieved with less pain on the animals. In the creation of more disease models, a better approach of the ailments will be made, and human life will be preserved. The advantages of genetic engineering to the preservation of human life outweigh the concerns that the animal activists present on the debate. As we approach a new level of technology, we should ensure that animal loss is avoided as we produce more genetically engineered mammals to assist in medical research. The gene-editing techniques should be embraced to reduce or eliminate in totality the suffering and the pains that the animals used in scientific purposes undergo. The genetic engineering way is the approach that is needed as we explore medical research and take into consideration the pain that the animals go through. In using such animals and presenting a clear legal framework, the ethical issues associated with the same technique will be dealt with, and animal research continues.
References
.Bailey, J. (2019). Genetic modification of animals: Scientific and ethical issues. In Animal Experimentation: Working Towards a Paradigm Change (pp. 443-479). Brill
Cheluvappa, R., Scowen, P., & Eri, R. (2017). Ethics of animal research in human disease remediation, its institutional teaching; and alternatives to animal experimentation. Pharmacology research & perspectives, 5(4), e00332.
Liu, E., & Fan, J. (2017). Laboratory Animals and Biomedical Research. In Fundamentals of Laboratory Animal Science (pp. 1-24). CRC Press.
Yerasi, A., & Manchikanti, L. (2019). Animal Models of Pain and Ethics of Animal Experimentation. In Academic Pain Medicine (pp. 27-32). Springer, Cham.