NIH to Stop Funding Invasive Research Testing on Chimps
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) is ending an era of research testing on chimpanzees. The agency announced that it will be sending all of the remaining chimpanzees that were being reserved for potential future biomedical testing to a federal sanctuary once room opens up.
The NIH previously declared that invasive chimp testing was coming to an end. In 2013, the majority of these lab primates were indeed retired to Chimp Haven, the sanctuary that is located in Louisiana. At the time, 50 of the animals were in case of public-health emergencies, such a new pathogen. Now, these 50 will be able to leave the lab and live out their days as normal chimps.
"It's time to say we've reached the point in the U.S. where invasive research on chimpanzees is no longer something that makes sense," said Dr. Francis Collins, director of NIH. "We find no evidence that there is a need to continue to do research of an invasive sort on chimpanzees, not now and not going into the future."
Collins stated that there were two main reasons why the NIH decided to stop chimp testing. First, a 2011 assessment by an independent part found that research testing on chimps was not useful and necessary anymore. Second, since chimps were considered to be endangered under the Endangered Species Act, it made it harder for researchers to request for invasive testing on chimps.
"When you put those things together, it seems inescapable," Dr. Collins said reported by the New York Times. "We have moved on beyond the time when research on chimpanzees was considered essential."
Kathleen Conlee of the Humane Society of the United States added, "We are overjoyed by this decision."
The news were not received positively by everyone, however. Some researchers, like Frankie Tull, the president of the Foundation for Biomedical Research reportedly ABC News, questioned the safety behind the move.
Chimps have been used for years to help researchers create medicines. Due to advances in science and technology, many experts have stated that using these animals has become outdated.
