"Biomedial science has not yet reached the stage where there are adequate replacements for the use of non-human primates in research"
The quote below is in regard to the Wetherall Report, a report on the use of non-human primates in research published in December 2006. The study was initiated by the Academy of Medical Sciences , the Royal Society, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. The UK Bioscience Federation had the following to say about the report:
"Biomedial science has not yet reached the stage where there are adequate replacements for the use of non-human primates in research on diseases such as those that affect the nervous system (e.g stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease), and chronic disease (e.g asthma and other lung diseases, and other debilitating effects of ageing, etc).
Also, the immune responses of non-human primates are very similar to humans, making them uniquely important in the development and safety testing of human vaccine. There are still many serious diseases that do not presently have any protective vaccine available to treat them. Good examples of these are AIDS and malaria. The recent scare with SARS, and the possible dangerous pandemic that would occur if bird flu ever mutated to become easily transmissable between humans, should remind us all how vulnerable the human race is to the ravages of new diseases. Moreover, there are still many diseases such as Ebola and Marburg that undoubtedly infect non-human primates, which appear to act as the reserboirs for these viruses (and perhaps others as yet to be discovered). The use of non-human primates for such research may well be part of our best efforts to ensure that we are prepared to counter such infectious agents that could pose human health problems in the future."