The drug trial had previously been performed on chimpanzees and deemed safe for human trial.
I came across this article on CounterPunch, which stresses the end of testing on chimpanzees:
"Because despite sharing all but a few percent of our genes with chimpanzees, there are still tens of millions of DNA sequence differences plus innumerable and variable differences in gene expression between our two species. The Institute of Medicine agreed with me and other experts calling for an end to chimpanzee experiments. Its decision—and the recent NIH decision—make it clear that there is no necessity or compelling scientific justification for the use of chimpanzees to study human diseases and treatments and that turning from animal experiments to modern methods would represent genuine progress."
I always think of Harlow's Maternal Deprivation Study when I think of these poor animals being caged "for the benefit of mankind". Studies have been shown that these practices do not benefit us tremendously.
It being the Year of the Monkey, what are your thoughts on this (in my opinion, archaic) research method? Are there any alternatives?
I think paid trials are a tricky thing - I know folks who work for places (like CAMH) where they pay participants to undergo certain studies. The latest one I've heard of was getting young adults with certain predispositions to undergo an MRI while drinking alcohol. Personally, I don't have an issue with studies like these, where the risk is minimal.
ReplyDeleteHowever, drug trials are a different story. To be very honest, I don't know if there is another way. So long as our species believes we are at the top of the hierarchy of species, animal testing will continue. It will be interesting, however, to see if they develop different methods for things that use more localized tests (like 3D printing skin and using it to test new make up products).