The Yediot Haifa newspaper published a one-sided article that was taken entirely from the message page of organizations that are irrationally opposed to animal experiments following a demonstration that took place recently at the Ziv Center in Haifa
By Aviv Sharon
which seeks to replace animal studies with human tissue studies.
The column was first published on the Facebook page of Aviv Sharon, one of the operators of the Facebook page.Science communication"
Aviv Sharon
Our story begins on April 20 in Milan, where activists of organizations against animal testing took over the laboratories of the Faculty of Pharmacology, set animals free and destroyed expensive and complex experiments. Experiments that had the power, perhaps, to provide humanity with new drugs for incurable diseases, or at least to provide promising insights and directions towards the development of such drugs. (Dr.Roey Tsezana dealt with the issue thoroughly in his blog Another science.)
If you thought the matter ended in distant Italy, you were wrong. In "Yediot Haifa" last Friday (the day before yesterday) an amateurish article was published about a demonstration organized by opponents of animal experiments at Ziv Junction in Haifa last Thursday. The location is not accidental. The Ziv Junction is located near the Technion, one of the leading institutions in scientific research in Israel, which also conducts experiments on animals. The demonstrators are certainly aware of the attack that took place in Milan. In fact, from the description of the event in the article, which is probably based on the words of the demonstrators, it can be assumed that they would have done exactly the same thing at the Technion if they could.
What is more unfortunate is that the article appears to be a copy-paste of a press release by the "Israeli Association Against Animal Experimentation", without exercising any professional judgment. It seems that the protesters' claims were brought without any examination. Just for example, were electrodes inserted into the brain of the protester in the picture? Who inserted electrodes into him and by what authority?
Even worse, the reporter did not contact any source that might dispute the protesters' claims or put them in a critical light. I chose to emphasize the following sentence: "More than 80% of the experiments are done as part of basic research aimed at satisfying scientific curiosity and without connection to saving lives or medical developments whatsoever."
There are still incurable diseases such as Alzheimer's, which affect millions of people worldwide. Very little is known about the origin of the disease and its duration, and animal experiments are required in order to simulate the course of the disease and try to influence it by various means. Even for diseases that we know more about, and for which there are already different treatments, such as cancer, there are probably many secrets that have yet to be cracked. There is still much to be done to prevent the disease, to diagnose it at an earlier stage, and to develop innovative treatments adapted to the individual condition of each and every patient.
Any such applied development is closely related to basic questions about the causes of the disease and how it progresses. If we do not expand the scope of knowledge we have about the disease, we will never be able to move forward in these directions. "Regardless of saving lives?" Far from it.
Does every experiment discover a new drug? No. But we still have to constantly formulate new hypotheses and test them, even if only some of them end up providing us with new directions for medical applications. Just as in order to prevent organized crime, one must do thorough detective work and interrogate suspects. In the end, only some of the suspects are really criminals, and some will turn out to be innocent, but nevertheless, in any case, we must continue to check every last thread, and collect information that will confirm or contradict our hypotheses. And just as all police investigations must meet the limits of law and logic, any animal experiment must meet moral standards and be approved in advance.
Allegedly, this is just another cynical demonstration that was covered in the article on page 38 of the Haifa Local, with a reference from the cover. But it is about more than that. When the level of public debate deteriorates, we all together deteriorate into a world where no decision is rational, and we can no longer distinguish between a well-founded argument and half-truths. It starts with demonstrations in Ziv Square and ends with the decision of the "El Al" company to refuse to transport animals for research in Israel, a decision that in practice contributes to the continued suffering of many people.
And thanks to the media for doing their job. Like I said, don't believe everything you read in the paper.
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Hypocrisy:
oppose animal research.
use drugs developed with the help of such research.
Although it is likely that all the protesters are vegetarians or vegans.
I doubt if everyone who rants against experiments is a vegetarian and avoids using leather - so there is a layer of hypocrisy here.
(By the way - I'm a vegetarian).
These radicals only cause us harm..