Chapter 1 - History of the Use of Nonhuman Primates in Biomedical Research

Abstract

The use of nonhuman primates in biomedical research is documented by history's earliest scientists who undoubtedly saw in monkeys and apes the most obvious research surrogates for humans. However, it was not until the 20th century that such use moved beyond isolated investigators and towards organized scientific activity. Following the establishment of the first primate center in 1923 in the USSR, similar activities were also started in the western hemisphere to make the use of nonhuman primates in research more feasible. Efforts began shortly afterward to develop a vaccine for poliomyelitis. However, real acceleration of broad nonhuman primate usage began in the early 1960s with the start of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) primate centers program, with its seven dispersed centers, and wider emulation of the center concept in the USA and elsewhere. Growth in usage continued through the turn of the century, but was constrained by shortages in the supply of wild caught animals, the emergence of the animal rights movement and resultant increased regulation, the imposition of restrictions on transportation related to concerns about zoonoses, and the rising costs of doing research. The use of chimpanzees drastically declined. These constraints were offset by the rise in breeding, both domestically and abroad, the flow of support that followed discovery of the simian immunodeficiency virus model for AIDS research, the adoption of alternative models, and the refinement of animal use. Scientific achievements following the year 2000, including mapping the chimpanzee and rhesus monkey genomes, the birth of the first cloned rhesus monkey, and associated advances, brought genetically based therapeutics much closer to clinical applications in humans. Historic trends suggest that, while the use of nonhuman primates will continue, the impact of regulatory and cost constraints may increasingly limit their use in the pharmaceutical industry and in academic and government sponsored research sectors to only the highest priority projects where it remains clear, as it has in the past, that there is no substitute.