Expert answer:gen499 week 2 discussion 1 Identify two global soc
Solved by verified expert:Final Argumentative Essay TopicPrepare: As you prepare to write your response to this discussion assignment, you may want to review the following resources as these will help you in developing a topic:Develop a Research Topic (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.Incorporate Sources into Your Research Paper (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.It is also recommended that you review these tutorials from the Ashford University Library:Searching in Databases (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.Evaluating Sources (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.You may also want to review the Week Five Sample Final Paper Guide, so that you can start preparing your rough draft that is due in Week Four. Reflect: When considering a research topic, consider an interesting topic that is worth further research. For instance, having a strong opinion on a specific topic may deter you from thinking more critically, and therefore the research might end up being one-sided. It is a good idea to pick a topic in which you can provide a good argument for both sides of the societal issue. Write: For this discussion you will address the following prompts:Identify two global societal issues from the following list that you would consider researching further for your Week Five Final Argumentative Essay: adult illiteracy, funding for General Education vs STEM in primary and secondary schools, minimum wage, oceans desertification, overcoming the digital divide, refugee (escaping persecution, war, or death) crises, species extinctions (modern), tax havens, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), universal statement of human rights (pick one), airport security, or wealth disparity.Describe effective methods you used in identifying and narrowing down to just one of the two topics to further research for your final essay.Explain three ways you can critically analyze sources to determine if they are scholarly and credible.For one of the topics chosen, summarize information from at least two peer-reviewed journal articles from the Ashford University Library that will support your claims.Explain why scholarly sources should be used to support your writing on the selected topic.Download and attach a PDF copy of one of the peer-reviewed scholarly articles that you found from the Ashford University Library to your answer using the “Attach” function located below your response.Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length, which should include a thorough response to each prompt. You are required to provide in-text citations of applicable required reading materials and/or any other outside sources you use to support your claims. Provide full reference information of all sources cited at the end of your response. Please use correct APA format when writing in-text citations (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. and references (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
sample_final_paper_gen_499_final.pdf
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Running head: ANIMAL TESTING
1
To Test or Not to Test: Ethics in Animal Testing
Student Name
GEN 499 General Education Capstone
Professor Millie Jones
November 16, 2050*
*This sample paper was adapted by the Writing Center from an original paper by a student. Used by permission.
ANIMAL TESTING
2
The introduction should introduce your topic and share the societal problem that you see. At the end of the introduction, you
should state your thesis, which should include your proposed solution to the problem. You may also state the positive ethical
effects of your proposed solution.
To Test or Not to Test: Ethics in Animal Testing
The subject of animal testing raises questions of necessity. Animal testing is
something that has been done for many years for several different reasons. It has been
used since the dawn of medicine by physicians and scientists. From biomedical research
to testing cosmetics, people claim that animal testing is necessary to benefit people in sa-
Here, the
student is
introducing the
topic of animal
testing to the
reader.
tiating their need for certain products as well as saving lives. There is an idea that animals
are the best way to find treatments and cures for people, but the treatment of animals is of
concern for some members of society. Society is feeling more and more that animals
have as much right to live freely in this world as humans do, and our obligation to see to
The introduction
includes a very
brief discussion
of why this is a
societal problem.
this makes animal testing a societal problem. Due to these concerns and others, there
have been several laws and acts formed to protect animals and minimize their suffering.
And with the advances of technology and other discoveries, the question of the necessity
{
of animal testing is becoming an issue for animal activists and lovers everywhere. The
future of medicine and biomedical research should not rely on animals for testing. Instead, we should use alternative testing methods and work toward making different lifestyle choices. These solutions create the ethical outcome of ending the suffering of these
}
animals, which will have a positive influence on society and culture.
Use section headers for
each of the major
sections of your paper.
Background
Problem
The introduction
ends with a thesis statement
that includes the
student’s proposed solution(s) to the
societal problem. She also
has included the
positive ethical
outcome of the
solution(s).
This first body section of your paper
should provide some background
information on your topic and discuss why
this is a societal problem.
Animal testing has been deemed necessary for many reasons. Animal testing has
been done to determine the safety of household cleaning products, cosmetics including
ANIMAL TESTING
3
skin care, shampoo and makeup, as well as biomedical research that provides medicine
and treatments for humans and pets alike. The BioIndustry Association (2002) argues that
“Animal research has made a vital contribution to the development of medicines that save
many lives every day” (Taylor, 2005, p. 7). In 1938 Congress passed the Food, Drug and
Cosmetic Act because of public demands after tragic incidents involving an untested
In this paragraph,
the student has
given the reader
some background
information on the
topic.
product (Why Do Companies Test Cosmetics or Other Products on Animals?, 2013).
There have been many arguments and evidence that shows the “good” that animal research has done in regards to biomedical research. Studies involving dogs, rats, rabbits,
cats, chickens, pigs and sheep have all helped to contribute to the understanding of heart
disease. Drugs and vaccines that can be a possible solution to the devastating HIV/AIDS
virus are present due to the tests that have been performed on chickens, cats and monkeys
with a similar virus. Animals have been used as models for research for almost every disease that is known to man (Lee, 2015). If animal testing has contributed to creating drugs
for diseases as serious as cancer and HIV/AIDS, naturally animals are being used to find
cures and treatments for many other diseases and sicknesses.
Reason #1
Therefore, how could animal testing be wrong? Indeed, research has shown that
animal testing is helpful to progress in the field of medicine and biomedical research as
well as developing treatments that are yielding promising results. However, it comes with
a high cost. It comes with the cost of animals being subjected to tests that put them
through distress and can harm or kill them. Humans and animals are both sentient beings;
sentient meaning a person or being that has feelings or that can feel (Sentient, 2015). Research shows that 37% percent of animals used for science suffer moderate to severe
stress and discomfort or severe pain (National Statistics, 2014). When it comes to using
This paragraph
discusses the first
reason that animal testing is a
societal problem
and provides evidence to support
this.
ANIMAL TESTING
4
animals for science and experimentation, people tend to focus on the fact that non-human
animals are inferior to humans. Regardless of whether or not this is true it does not take
away from the fact that animals are sentient and that they experience pain and seek pleasure. Animals and people react to pain in similar ways by screaming or trying to avoid the
source of the pain. “The American Veterinary Association defines animal pain as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience perceived as arising from a specific region of
the body and associated with actual or potential tissue damage” (Dunnuck, n.d, para. 6).
Some of the animals used in biomedical research are not given any pain relief. They are
subjected to painful conditions and physical procedures that leave them in intense cold or
heat, or have limbs crushed and spinal cords damaged (Callanan, 2009). Pain and suffering are unique to every individual. Every person’s and even animal’s pain threshold is
different. However, evidence clearly shows the pain that is experienced by these animals
is experienced the same way that it is in humans.
Reason #2
Physical pain is unfortunately not the only problem that these animals undergo.
Psychological distress, fear, and sadness have been demonstrated amongst a wide variety
of species (Ferdowisiann & Beck, 2011). The use of chimpanzees and other primates for
animal testing has generated a lot of controversy because of their similarities to humans.
Ironically enough, it is also the reason that so many researchers have wanted to use them
as models. Indeed chimpanzees are highly emotional and intelligent creatures that are
evolutionarily and genetically similar to human beings. This is the argument of researchers that makes them great candidates for biomedical research. Philosophy Department
Chair Lori Gruen states, “They’re very similar to us in terms of their emotional lives and
This next paragraph discusses a
second reason
that animal testing
is a societal problem and again
provides evidence
to support this.
ANIMAL TESTING
5
their intellectual and physical and social experiences, and using them in painful, invasive
ways is to harm them; they don’t consent to it” (Lee, 2015, p. 3).
Reason #3
Besides the obvious reasons of the pain and suffering that these animals feel, there
is the question of the necessity for animal testing in regards to medical advances. Despite
the increasing number of technological alternatives to animal testing, over 100 million
animals are legally used for animal experiments each year for medical research alone. In
This paragraph
discusses a third
reason that animal testing is a
problem.
Evidence is used
to support this.
2007, England, Wales and Scotland used 3.1 million animals for genetic and biomedical
experimentation (Callanan, 2009). In October of 2006 attendees of the opening day of the
Joint World Congress for Stroke in Cape Town, South Africa were devastated at the failure of a drug that was intended for ischemic stroke. The drug, NXY-059, had reached
phase III of clinical trials and failed to do what the animals used for the research had
promised. The drug was supposed to “stop the cascade of the necrosis in the event of a
stroke, and protect the remaining viable brain cells” (Gawrylewski, 2007, para. #). Director of Michigan Alzheimer’s Diseases Research Center in the Department of Neurology
at the University of Michigan Sid Gilman says that one of the major faults in the trials for
NXY-059 was its use of animal models (Gawrylewski, 2007). Besides the millions of
dollars wasted, there was a waste of life and unnecessary use of animals for painful research. This is one of many examples of disappointing let-downs of drugs that were tested on animals that did not work.
Solution
Solution #1
This next section of your paper is where
you will discuss your proposed solution(s) to the problem.
Considering the horrific psychological and physical pain that animals have to go
through in the midst of testing for biomedical research, alternative testing methods are in
ANIMAL TESTING
order. According to Callanan (2009), there has been much successful research and many
tests done to help find treatments for diseases and sicknesses that have plagued humans
6
In this paragraph,
the student discusses her first
solution.
and did not involve animal testing. Many scientists have started and are continuing to develop alternate ways to test and find treatments for people because they do not want to
harm animals. Some of these new developments include cell cultures, analytical technology, micro-organisms, computer models, population research, and volunteer studies. Cell
cultures have contributed to the understanding of cancer, Parkinson’s, and HIV/AIDS.
Analytical technology uses equipment that selects anti-cancer and anti-malaria drugs because of the reaction it produces with DNA. Computer models are allowing for virtual
experiments to be conducted (Callanan, 2009). Tissue engineering is also an alternative to
animal testing. It uses a 3-D skin equivalent that is physiologically comparable to skin. It
investigates wound healing melanoma research, infection biology, analysis of infection,
invasion of different pathological microorganisms and immunological, histological, and
molecular-biological analysis. This study has been inspired by economical and ethical
incentive (Mertsching et al, 2008). Animals are subjects for painful and uncomfortable
vaccine success for human diseases. However, some researchers have begun to rely only
on human data, cells and tissue. As far as vaccine development goes, researchers have set
up a surrogate in-vitro human immune system to help predict an individual’s immune response to certain drugs and vaccines. This test has been compared with data from animal
experimentation and has proven to produce more accurate pre-clinical data (Ferdowsian
& Beck, 2011). This evidence shows that alternative ways to test treatments are in fact
possible and even better, making testing on animals more of a choice than a necessity.
You can see that
she used several
pieces of evidence to support
her argument that
this solution is
viable.
ANIMAL TESTING
Solution #2
Along with alternatives to animal testing, there are alternative lifestyle choices
that can prevent people from having to use the drugs that are being tested on animals.
Naturally there are some things that are out of people’s control including genetics and
accidents that cause serious bodily harm. However, there is the choice to exercise, eat
healthy, and engage in healthy behavior and activities that will prevent a lot of diseases
that call for people to use some of the drugs that tested on animals. Complementary and
alternative as well as integrative healthcare include preventative healthcare, and natural
remedies to help treat the physical body as well as treating the mental state. Having better
habits can help to eliminate some of the issues that these medicines that torture animals
can be good for. For instance, headaches and migraines are a common problem unfortunately. According to the International Headache Society, 46% of the adult population suffers from regular headaches 11% suffers from migraines while about 46% suffers from
tension headaches (as cited in Adams & Lui, 2013). Also noted is that the most common
way that people treat headaches and migraines is through conventional medicines that
include acetaminophen, acetylsalicylic, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that
may cause a plethora of issues including dry mouth, constipation, seizures, and weight
gain. These are also some of the things that they induce animals with in order to see if the
drugs they are giving out work. There are several different alternative methods to treating
headaches in migraine including drinking more water, having a healthier diet, acupuncture, massage therapy, yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises. These are all cruelty
free and have been shown to help people (Adams & Lui, 2013). Again, these alternative
and preventative treatments offer a solution to the problem of animal testing.
7
In this paragraph,
the student discusses her
second proposed
solution.
You can see that
she used several
pieces of evidence to support
her argument that
this solution is
viable.
ANIMAL TESTING
Be sure to use a
topic sentence
for each of your
body paragraphs
to indicate the
focus of the
paragraph.
8
In this section evaluate all of the evidence you used by discussing the validity, reliability, and any biases. Identify
the strengths and weaknesses of your sources. Interpret and discuss the statistical data you used and explain it
to your reader. You may even want to use visual representations such as graphs or charts to show statistics.
Then, point out the limitations of current research and attempt to indicate areas for future research.
Evaluation of the Evidence
The evidence used here is all valid and reliable and without bias. The majority of
sources used here are scholarly, peer-reviewed articles which makes them both valid and
reliable. There are also a few sources used here that would be considered popular sources.
However, the information used from these sources is valid and reliable because these
sources are secondary sources where the evidence used from them was provided by reliable organizations. For example, one source (Sentient, 2015) was used only to provide a
definition to the reader for background information. This definition is valid and reliable.
Another source (Why Do Companies Test Cosmetics or Other Products on Animals,
2013) was used to provide background information on the 1938 Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which is also valid and reliable information. A third source was also used to pro-
The student
has discussed
why the evidence used in
the paper is
valid and reliable and has
discussed
several
sources individually to
show this.
vide a definition for background information (Dunnuck, n.d). This definition is from the
American Veterinary Association and is valid and reliable. While some of the sources can
be seen as having biases, I do not feel that any of the evidence presented here from these
sources is biased in any way. For example, some of the authors may very well feel
strongly that animals should not be tested, but the evidence used was not based solely on
Here, the student discusses
any possible
biases of the
evidence presented in the
paper.
opinion. Instead, it was based on facts, studies, and experts in the field. For this reason, I
do not feel that the evidence used here contains biases. The real strength of each of my
sources is that they did include valid and reliable evidence and they were not simply appealing to the emotions of the reader. The main weakness of the sources is that some
failed to provide alternative viewpoints to their argument.
Strengths and
weaknesses of
the sources
are also presented.
ANIMAL TESTING
9
Several of the sources provide statistical data that needed to be interpreted. The
statistic from National Statistics (2014) about the percentage of animals for science that
suffer can be seen in the following graph:
In this paragraph,
the student interprets statistical
data from a
source and also
provides a graph
to show a visual
representation of
this data. Be sure
to cite any visual
data that you
include.
This statistical evidence shows that while there are certainly animals used for research
that are not suffering, more than 37% are suffering, which is more than a third of all of
these animals. These statistics provide evidence that show a concrete percentage of the
suffering that is occurring.
The future of biomedical research can continue to make advances without causing
harm and suffering to sentient beings. However, more research will need to be done to
find additional alternatives and to make the most out of the current alternatives. There is
also limited research on preventative measures of healthcare related to the issue of animal
testing. It would be useful to see more correlation studies done on preventative medicine
and a drop in the need for biomedical testing.
Here, the student states
some of the
limitations of
current research on the
topic and/or
areas where
more research
is needed.
ANIMAL TESTING
Ethical Outcomes of Solution
Negative
Outcomes
For this section of the paper, the student discusses ethical arguments for
and against implementing10
her proposed
solutions. In this section, you can refer
to ethical theories as well as your own
personal ideas about what is ethical or
unethical.
The issue about the physical and emotional pain that animals feel during animal
testing has been considered by supporters a “necessary evil.” This offers insight to a utilitarian view of why we use animals for testing purposes. Utilitarianism is the idea that
when there is a choice between two acts, the one chosen should yield the greatest amount
of happiness for the greatest number of people (Mosser, 2013). There is an obvious correlation with this way of thinking when it comes to animal research. Throughout different
studies involving the opinions and thoughts on animal testing, people use words like “re-
This first paragraph of this section shares an
argument that
could be considered a negative
ethical outcome to
her proposed solutions.
grettably” or phrases like “necessary evil.” The BioIndustry Association (2002) states,
“If we are to develop effective new treatments against mass killers such as cancer and
heart disease, regrettably [animal testing] will continue to be necessary for the foreseeable future” (Taylor, 2005, p. 7). The utilitarian view claims that despite whether people’s
acts are morally right or wrong, the results, consequences, or effects of the acts shown
will determine the morality of what is done (Regan, 1997). The theory of utilitarianism
shows that ending animal testing would lead to a negative outcome for society because it
could cause more people to suffer.
Positive
Outcomes
Ending animal suffering is clearly a positive ethical outcome, and the solutions of
alternative testing and alternative lifestyles can create this outcome. One of the issues that
animal activist have with this practice is that animals are sentient beings who feel and are
very aware of what is happening to them. They feel pain and fear in knowing that they
are being harmed. It has been shown in research and is no secret that animals are sentient
and feel pain and react to pain virtually the same way that humans do. It presents an ethical dilemma because animal testing inflicts pain, suffering, and death to non-consenting
This second paragraph of this
section shares an
argument that
could be considered a positive
ethical outcome to
her proposed solutions.
ANIMAL TESTING
11
sentient beings (Masterton, 2014). Their lives obviously mean something to them due to …
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