Introduction
The use of primates in experimentation is an extremely
controversial issue. Some scientists claim that primate experimentation
is crucial to medical advancement.1 Others claim that the use of
primates has not contributed to advances in the diseases that are
currently killing humans (i.e. heart disease, cancer, HIV, etc.) 2 While
humans are more closely related to primates than to other species,
primates may still be too dissimilar to be suitable subjects in studies
of human diseases.
Many people also have significant ethical concerns
regarding the use of primates in experimentation. Due to the social
nature of primates, their confinement in laboratories has significant
consequences. If primates are psychologically similar to human beings in
their ability to suffer, then the use of primates in potentially
painful/stressful projects should raise serious moral questions.
However, with the expansion of certain fields of
investigation, experimentation on primates is likely to increase in
coming years. Expansion of the Primate Centers is currently underway
with concurrent increases in funding.
Therefore, this is a particularly relevant time to be
placing primate experimentation in general, and the larger primate labs
in particular, under closer scrutiny. This report marks the second step
of such an effort.
This report will discuss the amount of funding given
to primate experimentation on the national level. While the funding
issue is being discussed, the closely related area of experimental
duplication (and the potential waste of federal funding) will also be
examined.
This document will also examine the conditions
primates are subjected to within laboratories. While it is currently
difficult to discuss the situation within all laboratories, certain
specific labs will be examined regarding the way that primates are
treated.
One basic area that has become difficult to discuss is
the actual number of primates in laboratories. While the number of
primates in labs has been released by the USDA in a more thorough way
than ever before, the classification system used in releasing this
information has made it impossible to compare current statistics with
similar statistics from previous years. As a result, it will be
impossible to discuss trends based on the cumulative statistics
promulgated by the USDA. However, trends involving the use of primates
in experimentation can still be discussed by utilizing a different
methodology.
The data source for comparing primate populations will
be specific documents for the larger primate labs in the US. The reader
will see that a substantial percentage of the primates within US labs
are centralized in just a few facilities. Therefore, this report will
utilize two sources to provide data on these large facilities. USDA
reports for specific facilities and NIH progress reports for other
facilities will be the informational base for the determination of the
direction of primate experimentation.
In summary, this report will provide invaluable
information regarding the number of primates within labs, the types of
experiments performed on primates, the number of projects using
primates, the funding of primate experimentation on the national level,
and the conditions within labs that use primates.
Footnotes
1 Expert Panel’s Recommendations for the Regional Primate Research
Centers Program, January 18, 2001, Office of Science Policy and Public
Liaison
2 Is Primate – Modeled Research Crucial, C. Ray Greek, in Pathways to
Progress, at
http://www.curedisease.com/Pathways/PathwaysFall03.pdf
