Animal testing, also known as Animal Experimentation, Animal research, is a procedure performed on non-human animals for purposes to research on the variables that affect the behavior or biological system. Animal testing has always been a controversial subject that caused protests, political discussions, etc. 

No other substitute for Animal experimentation has been discovered yet and therefore, the use of animals remains essential to discover the causes, diagnoses, and treatments for sufferings in humans and animals. Although federal laws are regulating this procedure, there are almost 100 million animals killed each year in wasteful and unreliable experiments. The other problem of Animal testing is the destruction of ‘unwanted animals.’ Some research often requires specific sex animals, and this destroys hundreds of thousands of animals. 

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Recently, gene-editing technology was used to create a single-sex litter of animals. The sex chromosomes determine the sex of mammals: females have two X chromosomes, whereas males have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. The technique discovered deactivates a gene involved with embryo development at a very early stage of development. Using the gene-editing molecule called Crispr-Cas9, the scientists deactivated the unwanted combination of chromosomes. The gene only deactivates when both parts of Crispr-Cas9 are together. Therefore, when male litter is needed, half the Crispr-Cas9 will be embedded into the mother’s DNA and the other half in the father’s X chromosome. These chromosomes, when brought together will develop only if they are XY as it only contains one part of Crispr-Cas9.

While this gene-editing technique brings benefits to labs and other industries, it is associated with many ethical issues. The question here is are we doing more for the animals by sparing them from the suffering or is it ethically and morally wrong to modify genes.
 

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