A.L.F....animal liberation front?

177>I%26#039;m all for not hurting animals for things like shampoo and cosmetics but these extremists believe in no animal testing what so ever.


BUT...would they refuse something like an anti-cancer drug that could save thier life or that of thier child if it had been tested on animals.


Who they have the courage of thier convictions to say no
Reply:It is often alledged that all forms of animal testing could be replaced by other means. However other means are often left vague.





There are computer simulation techniques to try to select appropriate molecules but all they do is whittle dosn the list of probable compounds which might work. Some of them are int he public domain (look at http://www.grid.org/download/gold/downlo... soem are complex private modelling tools.





But they are not comprhensive. I have friends who work for the Pharmaceutical Industry * medics, all without exception say there is no way they would trust a new compund that hadn%26#039;t been tested before use. They are open about how it can be tested, but make the point that the human body is a complex mechanism, it cannot be simulated by computer, nor by cellular level trials. sometimes the side effecxts (and most compounds do have side effects) are seen in other parts of the body than expected, or can


be more severe than predicted.





I don%26#039;t think there is anyone who would condone testing of cosmetics and beauty products on animals (which are relativel easy to test on human volunteers, after all skin cells can be effectively tested, but pharamceutical compounds?





There may be a day when such compounds can be tested entirely in a computer, but I don%26#039;t think its any where near there (yet). Simply we do not have enough information to create a realistic simulation model. Even so I%26#039;d still be very reluctant to be the first user of such a compound.
Reply:ANIMAL RIGHTS all the way!!! omg. i%26#039;m in love with the A.L.F. If you don%26#039;t belive in them then you are a heartless idiot! GO THEM! Report It

Reply:The thing is pete, these drugs could have produced using alternative methods (no animals involved) but the government refuses to fund that because of vested interests by the drug companies.





It%26#039;s sad and it is why many of these extremists are driven to do what they do... which is reality is nothing compared to the horrible torture inflicted on these poor animals.





But please remember 90% of animal activists are peaceful people and don%26#039;t believe in resorting to terror tactics.
Reply:Man this is one of the roughes questions I%26#039;ve red so far. In this case the scientists are faced with a dilemma: they should choose whether they will harm an animal by testing the drugs on them, or harm innocent people with the tests.


I can say to all the animal protectors: think about it what is better? Your child diing because a medicine was not properly tested in advance (or your child is actually a test subject in some way) or they test the chemicals on rats and other animals instead.


It is also interesting that sometimes animal tests prove that a medicine is ok, still it%26#039;s effect is different in case of people (or just some individuals).


I think that the meds shall be tested on living creatures (both animals and people), after other testing possibilities where used and they would not provide more info.


On the other hand, if we are strict, we can say that the bacteria which we want to kill with the medicine is also a living thing, should we protect the bacteria too?
Reply:ALF are a load of psycho crackpots. They%26#039;d rather kill someone or let someone die than see an animal used for testing. Every movement has it%26#039;s extremists and their cause, whatever it is, outweighs all other factors.


I would not want a drug or surgical technique used on me if it had only been tested on a cell culture or a computer programme.
Reply:Come off it man, look at it this way, If my Mum was dying and the way to save her was by harming animals, i would happily go into a field and kill every cow,pig,sheep,dog,ferret,mouse and any more you could think of to save her. Fair enough, testing cosmetics on animals is out of order, but when it comes to curing diseases or even preventing them in the first place, Im all for experimenting on them.