Heads and representatives of federal public health agencies have recently justified proposed changes to taxpayer-supported research by saying studies with nonhuman primates are unnecessary, don’t make sense, and could be replaced with tools like computer models. But these ideas do not reflect the state of science or a responsible approach to helping people get healthy and stay healthy.
Research in nonhuman primates has been an indispensable part of advancing our understanding, diagnosis and treatment of human and animal disease for decades. Scientists studying nonhuman primates at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have made many essential discoveries that are reducing human and animal suffering and leading to longer, healthier lives.
Among other important discoveries in reproductive health, monkey research has been key to the improvement of in vitro fertilization since 1983, when the first IVF rhesus macaque was born at UW–Madison’s Wisconsin National Primate Research Center.
WNPRC scientists working with nonhuman primates ignited the stem cell revolution when they became the first to isolate and grow nonhuman primate embryonic stem cells — and then, shortly after, human embryonic stem cells. Stem cells have the potential to become any cell in the body and are now being tested both to repair diseased and damaged tissue in patients and as a platform to study disease and screen new therapies.
Further research with nonhuman primates led to the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells, in which a patient’s own cells can be coaxed back into a stem-cell state, to be grown into various kinds of new cells. UW–Madison scientists and others around the world have relied on those discoveries to differentiate stem cells into heart, blood, brain and eye cells for treatment and research of a wide range of diseases.
In the last 25 years, studies of nonhuman primates at UW–Madison have led to ways to prevent transmission of HIV from mother to child, new treatments for Parkinson’s disease and natural sweeteners for people with diabetes. They have uncovered genetic changes in inherited anxiety, demonstrated the danger of environmental toxicants and certain food contaminants in pregnancy, and helped doctors treating ADHD make safer medication decisions for their patients by discovering how those drugs affect the brain.
Pioneering techniques for life-saving organ transplantation that may spare recipients a lifetime of anti-rejection medications and their dangerous side-effects, are now in human trials thanks to studies in monkeys at WNPRC. Lives threatened by HIV, Zika and COVID pandemics and emerging viruses have been saved by the knowledge generated and shared by UW–Madison scientists working in nonhuman primates.
Progress against neurological disorders linked to aging — like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other dementias — depend on nonhuman primate research, as investigators are using monkeys to understand these diseases, predict onset and test the feasibility and efficacy of new treatments.
Children also benefit from nonhuman studies that have helped prevent infectious diseases, correct gene mutations and develop life-saving interventions for congenital heart defects.
These and other important discoveries are the result of research with nonhuman primates, because the studies that made them possible could not be done safely and ethically with human subjects. Many of the WNPRC scientists making advances through research in nonhuman primates have also helped create and validate some of the most relevant methods for conducting biological research that now serve as alternatives to using animals in some instances.
WNPRC scientists are joined in their research by teams of specially trained veterinarians and animal care staff that care for nonhuman primates at UW–Madison. These dedicated individuals provide the animals with social housing, psychological enrichment, balanced nutrition, and thorough and contemporary veterinary care.
Research with animals is conducted only when alternate methods are not available to answer important scientific questions. Those studies move forward only after extensive review, approval and oversight from campus committees and federal agencies empowered to enforce all institutional, state and federal laws, regulations and guidelines governing the use of animals in biomedical research.
Conducting safe, ethical, and effective studies in nonhuman primates is hard and complicated work. It requires specialized expertise and unique facilities. UW–Madison’s long history of important research in this area has come about through generations of experience and a commitment to education and training that has drawn exceptionally talented people — motivated by the simple and noble hope that they can help people and animals — to Wisconsin and into scientific fields aimed at improving human health.
Support for this work has come from many sources over the years, including private individuals and non-profit organizations advocating for people with cancer, disorders of the heart and brain, and autoimmune diseases like arthritis and lupus. But the majority of the funding for this irreplaceable research is provided by the public, by taxpayers in the United States, through agencies of the federal government making science-based decisions to address pressing public health concerns and improve the lives of Americans and people around the world.
The success of research that can sometimes only move forward through studies of animals — including nonhuman primates — is too important to be abandoned before relevant and validated alternative methods are available. For that reason, UW–Madison is committed to responsible and ethical animal research, and thankful for the scientists and support staff that make that research possible.