Experimental animal
From Freepedia
Image:Fatmouse.jpg An experimental animal or laboratory animal is an animal kept in a scientific laboratory for scientific research and experimentation.
Animals chosen for animal testing of human targeted medicines are mostly mammals, for their closeness to human physiology, with chimpanzees, monkeys, rabbits, dogs, rats and mice being among the most commonly used. Animals are also used to test animal medicines.
Guinea pigs are also common experimental animals, to such an extent that the words "guinea pig" are synonymous for any person or thing that is experimented on or tested usually without their consent. Experimental animals are often highly inbred, in an attempt to reduce variation between individuals as far as possible. An example of this is the Rattus norvegicus breed of rat is almost exclusively found in laboratory settings.
Notable non-mammalian experimental animals include the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, and the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. These have short reproductive cycles, and thus enable multi-generational biological experiments to be performed within experimental periods of years, rather than decades.
The primary use for experimental animals is for medical science research where infections and medical conditions are induced in the animals and treatments, particularly medicines, are given to the animals to test their effectiveness. Notable uses of animals in science have included the use of the rhesus macaque for the identification of blood types, beagles exposed to cigarette smoke for research on lung cancer and the use of dogs by Ivan Pavlov to investigate behaviourism. The development of genetics has allowed the growth of research on genetically modified organisms and the cloning of Dolly the sheep has made her one of the best known experimental animals. Other uses of animals such as cosmetic testing have been greatly reduced owing to popular protests.
Image:An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1768.jpg The use of animals in experiments is a controversial subject with protests, and media campaigns by animal rights activists highlighting their use. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is one of the biggest organizations documenting animal research abuses and arranging non-violent protests. Other organizations such as the Animal Liberation Front take direct action to liberate animals from laboratories often involving illegal activities such as trespass, theft, harassment, blackmail and violence.
