How Biomedical Research Using Animals Has Benefited Me by Mia, Canyon Del Oro High School

Virtually every major medical advance of the last 100 years has depended on research with animals. Without animal research, doctors would have no chemotherapy to save the 70% of children who now survive acute lymphocytic leukemia. Sixty million Americans would risk death from heart attack, stroke or kidney failure due to high blood pressure without medication to control it properly. Thousands would be killed or crippled by polio because no vaccination would exist. Animals save and improve lives by providing the scientific knowledge to treat diseases and disorders like these and to ease pain and suffering.

Animal research has benefited me significantly. I was always much shorter than my friends, but as I became older, the difference in height became even greater. My family and I thought that it was just my genes; my relatives are not above average in height. However, on a routine doctor’s visit when I was 13 years old, my pediatrician noticed from my medical history that my growth rate had slowed down tremendously during the past three years. A normal child will grow about four centimeters per year, but in the last year I had grown less than one. I was put through a series of tests, which included multiple blood tests, a growth hormone stimulation test, an MRI, and bone age x-rays. After all testing was completed, it was determined that I have Growth Hormone Deficiency.

Growth hormone is vital to growth and development and is the principal hormone governing height in an individual. Growth Hormone Deficiency is a disease often caused by a problem in a pituitary gland or the hypothalamus in the brain. The disease is estimated to affect 1 in every 4,000 school aged children. Growth Hormone Deficiency can result either when growth hormone is not present in the pituitary gland in adequate amounts or when growth hormone is present in adequate amounts but is not released properly.

Ironically, my diagnosis was good news because we could finally begin treatment, and I was prescribed growth hormones. I now use Humatrope, a synthetic form of human growth hormone, biosynthesized through a process known as recombinant DNA technology. It is a protein which must be injected to be properly absorbed and remain active. Humatrope is chemically identical in structure to growth hormone produced by the pituitary gland.

For these growth hormones to be created, biomedical research was necessary to gain the essential knowledge about them. To acquire this knowledge, the nonhuman primate was used because of its close resemblance of the human being due to evolutionary similarities. We share a delayed development, prolonged pre- and postnatal growth periods, and an adolescent growth spurt. Valuable knowledge of growth hormone secretion was gained in the research of the nonhuman primate such as the chimpanzee, baboon, rhesus monkey, and squirrel monkey. With this research, scientists are able to treat Growth Hormone Deficient patients to maximize their height.

After the synthetic growth hormones were developed, they had to be tested, just as any drug must be. Laboratory animal testing is an essential way to obtain knowledge about potentially harmful effects of products because it provides the most reliable source of information for scientists. Testing in cell cultures or in nonliving systems cannot replace animal testing because animals are so complex. When a substance is introduced into an animal, it can interact in many places throughout the whole body and cause unexpected negative effects. Therefore, the recombinant human growth hormone was tested on animals to ensure its safety. Now I can benefit from the hormones without risk.

Without using animals in science and biomedical research, the world would be a very different place today. In addition to growth hormones, so many more areas of medicine have benefited from animal research. With the help of animals, vaccines for small pox, rabies, and polio were developed. Our understanding of blood was advanced, making transfusions possible. Coronary bypass surgery was developed, using techniques perfected on animals. Cardiac pacemakers and organ transplantation advances were also developed. Animal research has been a part of over 41 Nobel Prizes awarded, and it continues to be critical to progress in many areas of medicine and health.

Although growth hormones may seem unimportant compared to vaccines and open heart surgery, they have made a huge difference in my life. My mere centimeter a year has increased to six and my expected height is 5'1", maybe more. That may seem rather short to some, but it’s divine to me. I can proudly say, "I’m still growing," thanks to biomedical research using animals.

Follow-up essay – Mia, Internship at the University of Arizona

When you’re just sixteen, it’s nearly impossible to find a decent summer job, especially without past work experience. But I was so fortunate to win the SwAEBR essay contest and was given an internship at a biomedical research lab at the University of Arizona. There, I didn’t just watch, I actually did; I really helped out while working with Dr. Selmin, Trish, and Francoise. Not only did I organize their lab areas and all of the chemicals, but I also set up reactions and ran PCRs and Westerns, while at the same time learning about DNA, RNA, and bacteria.

Since I had never taken a biology course in school, the things they did were naturally confusing at first, and it seemed like I was just "smiling and nodding" when Trish and Francoise were explaining things to me. Nevertheless, they tried to use words I would understand, and I quickly started to recognize the terminology they used and research they did. As I became more familiar with the lab and their work, I understood more, and it made sense. Now I will even be ahead when I enter my biology class next year! But more than that, I can further appreciate the work that goes on for biomedical research.

This summer was more than just an impressive job to put on my future applications; it truly was an unforgettable, helpful, and life-changing experience. I was able to utilize many skills that I have learned in my classes and actually see them in everyday use. I am grateful to Dr. Selmin, Trish, and Francoise for spending so much of their time with me and never hesitating to answer a question. I had an incredible learning experience and I know it will be very beneficial in the future.

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