A great number of chimpanzees that have spent their entire lives in a research lab are up for retirement.
The National Institutes of Health is planning to end studies on a large number of chimps, they will keep about 50 of the primates for future research but won't breed any more for lab use, according to an NIH press release.
An independent advisory council released a set of "principles and criteria" to be implemented in future primate testing, the NIH agreed to most of the proposals.
"Americans have benefitted greatly from the chimpanzees' service to biomedical research, but new scientific methods and technologies have rendered their use in research largely unnecessary," said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. "Their likeness to humans has made them uniquely valuable for certain types of research, but also demands greater justification for their use.
"After extensive consideration with the expert guidance of many, I am confident that greatly reducing their use in biomedical research is scientifically sound and the right thing to do," he said.
Some of the new policies adopted by the NIH include: providing the chimps with habitats closer to what they would experience in the wild, establish a research panel to consider experiments involving the chimps, and "wind down" projects not up to the new standards.
The NIH does have some legal restrictions which makes retiring so many chimps to the Federal Sanctuary System more difficult. Congress currently regulates the amount of funding allowed for retiring primates, but they are reportedly working out the problem.
While the NIH accepted most of the proposed policies, they rejected a request for chimpanzees to have a 1,000 square foot living space.
"Today's decision by NIH culminates more than two years of intensive deliberations among NIH leadership, independent chimpanzee experts, researchers, bioethicists, and members of the public," said James M. Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., NIH deputy director for program coordination, planning, and strategic initiatives. "We are grateful to all who have contributed their insight and expertise during the advisory process."
SEE A STATEMENT FROM COLLINS BELOW:
