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Flawed thinking

US Researchers claim in the journal Cell that the birth of three ‘chimeric’ monkeys could hold "great potential" for medical research in the future. However, it is well known that the animal model is flawed. 

In particular, primate development is different from development in mice, neither of which is the same as human development. Chimera monkeys are also a genetic mixture of male and female raising further concerns, apart from the ethical ones, over their scientific suitability. 

These concerns are echoed in the article itself which highlights that ‘it is important to encourage human stem cell biologists to avoid false expectations from other species such as the mouse’.

Animals systems are different from human systems in that they do not suffer from the same diseases as humans. Animals do not have the same immune response to disease that humans do and even where an identical defective gene occurs in humans and animals, the animal will not always develop the same disease as a human or will not develop any disease at all.

Given the inconsistent results achieved to date in animal experiments, time and money would be better served in continuing to develop alternatives which are more human relevant and stop animal lives from being lost, particularly when their pain and suffering serves no relevant purpose.

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