NIH plans to reduce its use of chimpanzees in biomedical research.WIKIMEDIA, THOMAS LERSCH
National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Francis Collins announced plans this morning (June 26) to accept and implement changes to its chimpanzee research program, as recommended in January by the Council of Councils, an independent working group of expert advisors. The recommendations were based on findings from a report about chimps’ use in research issued in December 2011 by the Institute of Medicine.
In accordance with the working group’s guidance, the NIH has decided to retire most of its approximately 360 chimpanzees currently housed in research laboratories to sanctuaries—a process that could take a couple of years. The agency plans to maintain, but not breed, a population of 50 animals for use in future research, but it has not decided which chimpanzees it will keep ...
