Table of contents:
- Why do so many studies use animals?
- However, animal studies are not always effective in humans
- So, the conclusion …
To test the effectiveness of herbal plants, medicines, and diseases, in-depth research is needed. Well, researchers often use animals as experimental materials. However, not all of these animal-based studies have had the same effect in humans. What is the reason?
Why do so many studies use animals?
Animals are not only friends to humans, but also experimental materials for research. Call it rats, rabbits, dogs, cats, and chimpanzees, these animals are very commonly used as experimental animals.
Generally, the research carried out is closely related to the world of health, for example the discovery of new drugs or surgical techniques. Why is the research not directly applied to humans, but to animals?
The research will not be tested for the first time on humans to prevent failures that end in damage, interference, disability, or death. In order to avoid this risk, that is why animals become substitute objects for their safety and effectiveness to be known.
According to the National Academy Press website, animals also have biological similarities with humans, making them good experimental materials for certain diseases. For example, researchers used rabbits to monitor the development of atherosclerosis and monkeys to develop a vaccine for polio.
However, animal studies are not always effective in humans
Despite these biological similarities, animal-based studies have not always shown effective results in humans.
Researchers from the Allen Institute in Seattle are investigating this in depth. They looked at a comparison of brain tissue from epilepsy patients who had died with the brains of mice.
The part of the brain that was observed was the medial temporal gyrus, which is an area of the brain that is responsible for processing language and deductive reasoning. After comparison, the brain cells in mice were similar to human brain cells. However, researchers also found differences, namely the serotonin receptors.
Serotonin is a hormone produced by the brain that regulates appetite, mood, memory and desire to sleep. The receptor cells present in humans were not found in the same cells in the animal studies.
These differences indicate that the results of tests of depression drugs, which work to increase serotonin levels, will flow to different brain cells between humans and mice.
In addition to serotonin receptor cells, researchers also found differences in the expression of genes that build connections between neurons (nerves). That means a map that depicts the connections between nerves in humans will look different from what it looks on mice.
Researchers believe that these differences suggest that the human brain and the human nervous system are much more complex than in animals.
This is because the human brain is not only responsible for regulating movement, communication, memory, perception, and emotions, but also moral reasoning, language skills, and learning.
So, the conclusion …
Animal-based research does not show 100% the same effect when it is carried out by humans. Therefore, this research needs to be reviewed repeatedly.
However, the existence of animal studies as experimental materials can give scientists hope regarding the field of health and medicine in the future.
In fact, if it has been tested on humans, it is necessary to fulfill various conditions, namely it is carried out on a large scale and observing various influencing factors, such as age, gender, health problems or habits.
