The president of Americans for Medical Advancement and a UW-Madison professor and animal researcher clashed heads on the question of whether using animals for research can help scientific advancement for humans at a debate Wednesday in a packed Wisconsin Historical Society building auditorium.
Dr. Ray Greek, a retired anesthesiologist and author of three books on the use of animals in human disease and drug research, said he insists animal research is not relevant in predicting human results, while Dr. Eric Sandgren, a professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine and chairman of two animal research oversight committees on campus, said he believes significant human medical advances have been and will continue to be made as a result of research using animals.
Greek said he does not deny that an animal will occasionally react the same as a human would in a scientific experiment, but that does not mean an animal will be a constant predictor of human reactions.
AFMA is in favor of anything that leads to cures or safer drugs; we are not an animal advocate group,"" Greek said. ""If animals were predictive, we would be in favor.""
Sandgren, in contrast, said he believes taking advantage of species' similarities and combining them with human research is vital to making accurate predictions about human biology and disease.
""Rather than emphasizing the differences and giving up, scientists identify and take advantage of the similarities as ways of taking information from one species to another,"" Sandgren said.
Greek said medicine has become progressively personalized illustrating differences in reactions to drugs and experiments between males and females, and people of differing ethnicities.
Sandgren, however, explained that clinical medications used to treat cases of heart, kidney and liver diseases are the same, insisting that these similarities remain relevant and support animal research.
In response to Greek's call for more funding for human testing, Sandgren said the number of animals total used for research at UW-Madison is equivalent to that of humans.
At the debate, Madison resident Patti Roth said she does not support the use of animals for research because it's slowing down the process for human health issues.
""I would not test medication meant for dogs on cats because my guess is the result for cats would be different than the result I'd get for dogs,"" Roth said.
UW-Madison veterinary student Bridget Cummings said she believes using animals for research is important.
""A lot of breakthroughs in medicine are not possible without animal testing such as different cancer research and on-going research with HIV,"" Cummings said.
The debate closed with a five-minute rebuttal from Greek, who said he did not think the debate was successful because Sandgren did not argue on the same subject as he had.
""I don't think this has been a debate as a debate is usually defined,"" Greek said. ""I would call the tactic that Eric used tonight 'bait and switch'; he changed the conversation around.
