Question: is there a way that you could use plant minerals and leave animals out of this

Jessica Chu answered on 10 Jun 2011:

Hiya,

Well I don’t test anything on animals- I love animals so I wouldn’t be able to test on them! I am unaware of anyone that is able to use plant minerals instead sadly.

Unfortunately, it is by law that for a new drug to be allowed to give to human, the research need to involve testing on lab rats and maybe a few other animals too): There are strict rules to make sure they are using as few as possible and only when needed (I know it doesn’t make it any better).
Any drug that is out on the market need to have good evidence that it works in an animal e.g. rats.
Part of the study is to measure how long the drug stay in the rat’s body (so they can estimate how long the will stay in human bodies – we are much bigger of course) and if there is any side effects.
It is very likely if side effects is seen in animals then most likelly in humans too and if it is so bad that it might kill the animal then we will know not to give those drugs for humans to test.

I totally agree with you on this one but I do know people are finding other ways such as to use cancer cell lines (cancer cell samples taken from patients and grown for research use) for testing instead.

But I have seen a research group in America where the scientists gave some drugs to a dolphine and a horse because they had cancer inside their mouth and it totally cured them so they were able to eat properly and have a longer life!!

Hopefully one day someone (prehaps you? :)) will have a brainy idea that will mean we don’t have to test on animals anymore. Maybe a super plant instead!!

Hope this answers your question!

Jess