August 2, 2013

Will Chimpanzee Test Ban Kill More Chimpanzees?

While the N.I.H. has prohibited research involving it sown chimpanzees since 2011, VandeBergargues that chimpanzees and gorillas may die from diseases “that could have been prevented or treated by medical products developed from research with chimpanzees.”

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“Research with captive chimpanzees is vital to the development and testing of vaccines that can help save the lives not just of humans but also of wild chimpanzees and gorillas. It could even help those species from becoming extinct.”

So writes John L. VandeBerg, director of the Southwest National Primate Research Center and the chief scientific officer of the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in an op-ed in The New York Times.

While the N.I.H. has prohibited research involving it sown chimpanzees since 2011, VandeBerg argues that chimpanzees and gorillas may die from diseases “that could have been prevented or treated by medical products developed from research with chimpanzees.”

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