Nature, 7/17/03: China Creating a New Primate Research Facility

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> China Creating a New Primate Research Facility

>

> China is establishing a new primate research center at Sun Yat-sen

> University in the southern part of the country. Tentatively named the

> Center for Stem Cell Biology and Tissue Engineering, the new facility

> aims to create transgenic primates for use as models of human

> disease and as a global source of primate stem cells. Transgenic

> animals are those that have been genetically manipulated to include

> genes from other animal species.

>

> The center will start with 100-200 monkeys, but hopes to triple that

> number in the future.

>

> Plans for the new center worry animal advocates. " We are at a time

> when all stakeholders should be searching for alternatives to the use

> of non-human primates in research. Unfortunately, the reality is that the

> use of non-human primates worldwide is on the rise " states Kathleen

> Conlee, HSUS's program officer for Animal Research Issues.

>

> " There is international collusion on this ominous trend, despite the fact

> that regulations and ethical guidelines are seriously inadequate or

> nonexistent in some of the countries involved, including China, "

> Conlee adds.

>

> Research conducted on animals with poor welfare runs the risk of

> being invalid, as physically and emotionally stressed animals will not

> yield accurate scientific results. But Bruce Lahn, a University of Chicago

> geneticist who is helping to establish the Chinese center, argues that

> most of the researchers in China were educated abroad and followed

> international animal welfare standards during their training. He believes

> they will continue to do so in China.

>

> Research centers in the United States pay about $5,000 per monkey.

> The Chinese center plans on obtaining rhesus and crab-eating

> (cynomolgus) monkeys from a nearby breeding facility and will pay

> only about 10% of that. The center is also considering capturing wild

> monkeys from an island in southern China, adding to the potential

> animal welfare issues.

>

> " In addition to the stress caused by forcing wild animals to live in small

> cages in captivity, capture and transport of animals from the wild often

> involves inhumane techniques that lead to injury and death, " says Conlee.

> " Therefore, we are opposed to any plan that would involve wild capture

> of primates for research purposes. "

>

> Source: Nature, July 17, 2003

>

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