All Gov’t Research Chimpanzees to Get Legal Protection. Era of Scientific Research Ends.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), America’s pre-eminent government biomedical research organization, is retiring its remaining research chimpanzees and sending them to sanctuaries.
In an interview with Nature, NIH chief Francis Collins framed the decision as the culmination of a years-long process of cost-benefit analysis:
“I think this is the natural next step of what has been a very thoughtful five-year process of trying to come to terms with the benefits and risks of trying to perform research with these very special animals. We reached a point where in that five years the need for research has essentially shrunk to zero.”
Should major medical research organizations focus on rare diseases? How does an organization like NIH determine which subjects to pursue and which to leave on the table? NIH chief Francis Collins discusses the tricky nature of setting the agenda:
