Surfactant is a natural compound that allows the lungs to operate normally. It was discovered in experiments using animal and human lung specimens in the late 1950s. Although some animal lung specimens were used, human lung specimens could have been used alone. Three years after its discovery, researchers demonstrated that premature infants have no surfactant in their lungs, but that the substance is present in the lungs of more mature infants, children, and adults. Within a few years, trials had begun administering this substance to infants with lung problems.
Human studies continue today to improve surfactant therapy for infants.
Drug and alcohol use are big problems today. Nicotine and cocaine experiments on animals won't solve the problems associated with drug and alcohol abuse. These experiments do not give results that apply to humans, nor do they do anything to stem drug abuse and its associated dangers to unborn babies. For example, in one experiment, nicotine was given to pregnant rats and then the offspring were tested to see how they performed in a maze. Alcohol was given by injection to newborn opossums, their sex organs were removed, and they then received first testosterone and then estrogen implants.