To clarify, animal testing for cosmetic and other non-medical testing = bad
For Biology and medical testing, it is very necessary but also very tightly regulated. In University, we could only use rats if we can show that there wasn't any other method of testing. Contrary to what some of my animal right friends think, it's not like that we test rats or other lab animal on a whim, we just haven't developed a comprehensive non-animal model to conduct the tests needed for the advancement of medicine and treatment for society (well, unless you count human testing, but that's even more strict).
Also, animal testing will continue to grow now as the climate is changing (or at least our environment is). Some of the most recent kinds of deadly diseases have been from viruses and pathogens that crossed over from animals. 20 years ago, West Nile was found only in a specific species of African mosquitoes. Today, it has evolved to the Western Hemisphere. SARS and Ebola are both suspected to be crossed over from animal reservoirs. HIV has characteristics of a Simian virus. Hanta Virus first emerged in Korea and is from aerosolized mice droppings. With warmer clients, there will increasing cases of Lyme disease (ticks) and even malaria may make a come back in North America as the environment continues to warm.
Therefore, animal base research will be increasingly used to find treatments and vaccines.
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