Primates
Unbeknown to the general public and hidden away in Australian research laboratories, primates are being used in a variety of biomedical experiments. They are subjected to a wide range of procedures including brain/vision research, HIV/AIDS research and heart research.
These primates – macaques, marmosets and baboons – are sourced from three government-funded breeding colonies, where they are bred specifically for research purposes.
There are sound ethical and scientific arguments against the use of primates for human health research.
“Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals and the answer is: 'Because animals are like us.'
“Ask the experimenters why it is morally okay to experiment on animals, and the answer is: 'Because the animals are not like us.'
“Animal experimentation rests on a logical contradiction.”
—Prof. Charles R. Magel
Contrary to this argument however, the physical differences between humans and other primates suggests that they are inappropriate models for human disease, and the similarities mean that we should afford them ethical consideration and not regard them as mere tools for research.
HRA Case Studies
- Brain lesions induced in baby marmosets to study eye-hand coordination : Transient visual pathway critical for normal development of primate grasping behaviour (2018). M..
- Decades of cruel monkey experiments at the University of Sydney. : Hidden in laboratories within the University of Sydney, marmosets have been used in brain and vi..
- Marmoset fetuses and newborns used in research : Hendrickson, A., Possin, D., Kwan, W.C., Huang, J, and Bourne, J.A. 2016, The temporal profile o..
- Marmosets used in visual motion perception experiment involving brain exposure : Zavitz, E., Yu, H.H., Rowe, E.G., Rosa, M.G.P. & Price, N.S.C. (2016). Rapid Adaptation Indu..
- Baboons used to test radioactive substance : Verschuer, J, Towson, J, Eberl, S, Katsifis, A, Henderson, D, Lam, P, Wen, L, Loc'h, C, ..
- Marmosets subjected to brain exposure experiments : Davies, AJ, Chaplin, TA, Rosa, MJP & Yu 2016, ‘Natural motion trajectory enhances t..
- Baboons used in blood pressure experiments - pregnant, juvenile, and adolescent baboons amongst over 100 involved : Yeung, K, Lind, JM, Heffernan, Scott, J, SJ, Sunderland, N, Hennessy, A & Makris, A..
- Macaques infected with SIV and testes removed : Winnall, WR, Lloyd, SB, De Rose, R, Alcantara, S, Amarasena, TH, Hedger, MP, Girling, JE & K..
- Researchers deliberately induce brain injury in baby and adult marmoset monkeys : Teo, L & Bourne, JA 2014. 'A Reproducible and Translatable Model of Focal Ischemia i..
- Baby monkeys used in invasive brain lesion experiments : Warner, CE, Kwan, WC, Wright, D, Johnston, LA, Egan, GF & Bourne, JA, 2015. 'Preserv..
- Macaques used for immune function studies – experiment highlights significant interspecies differences : Trist HM, Tan PS, Wines BD, Ramsland PA, Orlowski E, Stubbs J, Gardiner EE, Pietersz GA, Kent ..
- Marmosets used for kidney pathology experiments – 25 killed via cardiac puncture : Collins, MG, Rogers, NM, Jesudason, S, Kireta, S, Brealey, J & Coates, PT. 2014. &ls..
- Eight marmosets killed for eye experiment : "Characterization of Secretagogin-Immunoreactive Amacrine Cells in Marmoset Retina". F. Weltzie..
- Macaques used in vision experiment to study "attentional blink" : Maloney, R. T.; Jayakumar, J.; Levichkina, E. V.; Pigarev, I. N.; &Vidyasagar, T. ..
- A mother baboon and a baby baboon die in Preeclampsia research at the Heart Research Institute, NSW : Sunderland, Thomson, Heffernan, Lim, Thompson, Ogle, Mckenzie, Kirwan, Makris, Hennessy (2011) T..
- Probing monkey brains at Monash University : “Auditory cortex of the marmoset monkey – complex responses to tones and vocalizations u..
- Eight baboons used (and then killed) to study the healing process of shoulder tendon surgery : Three surgeons (D. Sonnabend and A. Young, orthopaedic surgeons, and C.Rolfe Howlett, veterinary..
- Infecting Pigtail Macaques with HIV : Comparative evaluation of simian, simian-human and human immunodeficiency virus infections in th..
- Marmosets in Brain Experiments at the Department of Physiology, Monash University : Researchers at the Physiology Department at Monash University, Clayton, are using monkeys in an ..
Click here for a more extensive listing of primate research in Australia.
