What kind of experiments are done on monkeys?

Currently the main areas of primate study are infectious diseases to develop vaccines and treatments for HIV/AIDS and malaria. Monkeys are also used in neuroscience to better understand the brain and treat conditions ranging from Alzheimer’s disease to schizophrenia.

Is primate research ethical?

Using primates as research subjects has a unique history in the topic of animals in science. While their closeness to us (a range of 95-98% genetic similarity in the case of the Great Apes) is what makes them valuable biomedical research subjects it is also a cause for ethical discomfort.

Why are primates used in animal testing?

Monkeys are used in animal research only if a particular phenomenon cannot be studied on any other species of animal, such as mice, fish or fruit flies. Because they are biologically so similar to humans, the potential for applying research results to humans is very high.

Is it legal to experiment on monkeys?

Testing on non-human primates is permitted for basic and applied research, quality and safety testing of drugs, food and other products and research aimed on the preservation of the species.

How many primates are tested on each year?

Context – Every year, more than 100 000 monkeys and apes are used for biomedical research around the world. Their genetic similarities to humans make them particularly suitable candidates for testing the safety of new drugs and for studying infectious diseases or the brain.

Are cats used in animal testing?

Although cats are not commonly used in research, cats experience many diseases in a similar way to humans. Cats also suffer from diseases such as leukaemia, Alzheimer’s, heart diseases and infections and immunodeficiency, and therefore, can be great animal models to study them.

Why primates should not be used for testing?

Non-human primates are the closest species to humans in terms of biological make-up, so they are thought to have a high degree of sentience. For this reason, they are rarely used in medical research. However, animals such as mice and rats are not good models for humans in a number of important areas.

Why are non-human primates used in research?

Non-human primates are used in medical research because of their similarities to human beings. Using animals that are so similar to humans, however, raises serious ethical concerns, which is why the use of non-human primates is monitored and strictly regulated.

Why do we study non-human primates?

Physical Anthropologists study non-human primates because they serve as a window into the past to provide an idea of what life may have been like for our earliest human ancestors. By analyzing the behaviors and body structures of primates, we can see how these behaviors & anatomy evolved over time.

Why we shouldn’t use primates in research?

Non-human primates are the closest species to humans in terms of biological make-up, so they are thought to have a high degree of sentience. For this reason, they are rarely used in medical research.

Are apes still used for testing?

Chimpanzee Experimentation in the U.S. in the 21st Century In 2010, the European Union passed a ban on great ape experimentation, but the U.S. continued to conduct invasive experiments on chimpanzees.

What happens to primates after research?

They can continue on to another study in our lab, be sold to another lab, or be euthanized for tissue histology.

What kind of experiments are done on primates?

Vaccine tests: Chimpanzees and rhesus monkeys are given infectious diseases and then used as test subjects for experimental vaccines. Military experiments and training: In recent experiments conducted by the military, primates were exposed to anthrax and infected with botulism and bubonic plague.

How many primates are used in research in the EU?

Introduction – Overview of the use of primates in research and testing in the EU Around 12 million animals are used each year in scientific procedures in the EU, and among these, around 10 000 are non-human primates ( NHPs ), mainly monkeys and apes. Experiments on such primates have lead to important findings in biology and medicine.

What kind of experiments are done on rhesus monkeys?

Vaccine tests: Rhesus monkeys are given infectious diseases and then used as test subjects for experimental vaccines. Military experiments and training: In recent experiments conducted by the military, primates were exposed to anthrax and infected with botulism and bubonic plague.

Why are primates used in infectious disease research?

2.2 In research on infectious diseases, vaccines and drugs that are developed are typically first tested on cells grown in the laboratory, then on animals, and finally on humans to check their safety and effectiveness. Primates often remain the most suitable animal option because their immune system is very similar to that of humans.