Re nature broadcaster David Attenborough: From Adam Lusher at Independent:
Researchers hit back after Sir David signed open letter to The Independent raising concern at the level of suffering involved in many neuroscience experiments on primates
Sir David Attenborough has been accused of being seduced by “pseudoscience”, as researchers hit back at his demand for an end to the use of certain types of “cruel” brain experiments on primates.
The highly respected naturalist and broadcaster joined leading scientists in signing an open letter to The Independent on Wednesday, saying it was time to stop funding some potentially painful or cruel types of neuroscience experiments on primates.
Um, yeah. Why are they doing this? The Americans ended chimp research for human health years ago because the field was a dead end.* But the field has its defenders in Britain. Just listen to this:
Dr John Isaac, Head of Neuroscience and Mental Health at Wellcome, the charity which offers funding to researchers, insisted that rigorous criteria had to be met before money could be provided for experiments on any type of animal.
And the apes and monkeys get to leave if they decide they don’t want to be part of the experiment, right? Just like they were people.
Update: Here’s a proposal: Any time a primate is bred for research, a trust fund should be established, consistent with the animal’s expected longevity (up to 60-year life span?), long after the research is over . The animal could be sold but the fund goes with it. The balance is returned to the owner either when the animal dies a natural death, an independent panel of veterinarians determines that euthanasia is in the animal’s best interests, or it is put down by court order as a danger to the public. That would cause researchers to be more transparent about why they must use primates for medical or psychological research not intended to benefit the animal. Also, there is no reason the taxpayer should be on the hook for supporting primates at sanctuaries just because someone has decided to breed one. – O’Leary for News
The only reason apes and monkeys would be used for research into human diseases, instead of afflicted humans, is that no benefit is intended to the animal, only suffering and harm. Most people can live with that if it applies to lab mice and rats who live and die by the dozen, in the wild or in the lab anyway. But the instinct that it is unethical to do that to animals that form a relationship with humans seems right.
“In particular, the review concluded: neuroscience experiments on monkeys are of only speculative value to humans; data collected from monkeys used in neuroscience research are misleading and of poor relevance to people due to the important differences between primates and humans in brain structure and function; the significance of results from ethical neuroscience research in humans is being underestimated by researchers.” More.
No surprise there. Stop it now.
* Note: An expensive dead end too, we shouldn’t wonder. Chimps are long-lived, and chimps who were bred and used for research who are sent to new homes in animal sanctuaries may or may not blend in with the wild crowd. Headaches all round.
See also: Most funding for chimp lab research to end immediately (2011).
Follow UD News at Twitter!