Is There Pain?  
    It is hard to do research without causing at least a little pain, right?  Well, in What Will Ease the Pain?  Ask a Frog, studies are being conducted by Craig W. Stevens, a pharmacologist at the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Tulsa, to find test subjects that feel less discomfort.  In his studies he has found what he believes to be the first nonmammal “guinea pig” for analgesis, the leopard frog.
    In Stevens’ study he places a drop of vinegar on a frog’s thigh and watches for a characteristic wiping response, which would indicate that there is irritation.  If this doesn’t occur he keep placing drops on the opposite thigh until the frog finally attempts to wipe it off.  Then after doing all of this he delivers an analgesic drug to the animal and runs this test again.
     The reason Stevens conducted this test was to contrast humans, which have 3 types of brain receptor for pain-inhibiting opiate drugs, to frogs which only possess 1.  What Stevens found was that frog’s receptors respond to drugs and work on any of the 3 human receptors and the potency of analgesics in frogs match that of mammals.  So how is this important to research?  Stevens believes that with further studies of these amphibians “eventually will lead to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of how opiates work.”  (J.R., 1999)
   
     Did you know that a test can be considered to be an alternative and still use animals?  Well that is a very important fact that those who are for animal testing can and do bring up and this isn’t their only argument against alternatives.  For one thing according to Animal Testing by Angel, animal testing supporters can argue alot about computers and technology and how they can never duplicate some situations.  They say if that could be done science would be way more advanced and they would have found many cures by now.  Another argument deals with the fact that computers do have downfalls and the person who had made up this program still had to test on animals.  So how is this reducing animal testing?  These are just some interesting facts about alternatives.  To read more about this topic click here.
 
     There are many institutes that are non-profit, technology driven foundations that are primarily dedicated to the advancement of alternative methods to animal testing.  To check out a very popular foundation that is dedicated to stopping animal cruelty and developing new alternative click on the following:  Institute for In Vitro Sciences.

This page was made by Stacy Kohle, a student at Wayne State College, on April 20, 1999.  If you have any questions or comments e-mail me at stkohl02@willy.wsc.edu.