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Disturbing video of infant monkeys at UW lab reignites debate over primate research
Newly released video showing infant monkeys undergoing experiments at a University of Washington research laboratory is reigniting a decades-old debate over whether primates are still necessary for biomedical research.
SEATTLE - Newly released video showing infant monkeys undergoing experiments at a University of Washington research laboratory is reigniting a decades-old debate over whether primates are still necessary for biomedical research.
The footage, released this week by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), shows infant macaques — some only days old — lying on laboratory tables with their heads shaved and electrodes attached to their bodies as researchers test their development.
The experiments shown in the video took place about six years ago, but PETA says similar research involving young monkeys has continued at UW and argues advances in technology have made the use of primates unnecessary.
A still image of a video showing infant monkeys undergoing experiments at a University of Washington research laboratory, acquired by PETA.
University officials say the particular experiments shown in the footage ended years ago and maintain that animal research has contributed important information about risks to human health that could not always be obtained through other methods.
Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel, PETA’s chief science advisor on primate issues, said the age of the video does not diminish its relevance.
"It doesn’t really matter that these experiments happened six years ago, because experiments with infant newborn macaques continue to occur and to happen at the University of Washington," Jones-Engel said.
Jones-Engel spent 17 years at UW and has worked as a primate scientist for about 35 years. She is now one of the university’s most vocal critics on the use of monkeys in research.
"We are still taking newborns from their mothers, animals who they should be with their moms, they should be holding onto moms, they should be nursing, and yet we see them on a lab table," said Jones-Engel.
PETA obtained the footage through a public records request. The group said the process took about seven months.
Jones-Engel said PETA released the video because the organization believes the public should see what happens to animals used in research instead of viewing the issue only through scientific papers or descriptions of experiments.
"We want people to see these monkeys for who they are, to understand what this experimentation means to these animals," she said.
UW: Video is difficult to watch but lacks context
What they're saying:
University of Washington officials do not dispute that the footage is disturbing.
Dr. Sally Thompson-Iritani, UW’s assistant vice provost for animal care, said she has watched the video several times.
"I do understand the reaction that people are feeling, and I do think that it is hard to watch," Thompson-Iritani said. "So I don’t want to minimize that in any fashion."
But she said the images alone do not explain why the experiments were performed or what researchers were trying to learn.
The research examined what could happen to developing offspring when pregnant animals were exposed to substances including methylmercury and domoic acid.
Domoic acid is a naturally occurring marine toxin that can accumulate in seafood, while methylmercury can also enter the human food supply, particularly through some types of fish.
Researchers were attempting to determine how exposure during pregnancy might affect neurological development and whether harm could appear later rather than immediately after birth.
"Some of these effects with low-level exposure to these contaminants, you might not see even at birth," Thompson-Iritani said. "They sometimes show up later in development."
UW says research involving primates can help scientists understand how exposure during pregnancy could affect human development and potentially help determine what exposure levels are dangerous.
PETA disputes that monkeys are necessary to answer those questions.
"We don’t need to rely upon an infant monkey taken from their mother and experimented on to tell us how drugs and treatments can improve human health," Jones-Engel said.
A still image of a video showing infant monkeys undergoing experiments at a University of Washington research laboratory, acquired by PETA.
What happened to the monkeys?
Dig deeper:
Another point of dispute involves what happens to animals after research is completed.
PETA says monkeys used in many experiments are ultimately euthanized.
Asked whether that was accurate and why animals would have to be killed after an experiment, Thompson-Iritani said scientists sometimes need to examine organs or other tissue to fully evaluate the biological effects being studied.
"The primary reason that the animals are usually euthanized at the end of these experiments is that we need to collect the tissues because there are several questions that we can’t answer when we’re looking at the animals during their lifespan," she said.
UW says animals used in research are cared for under federal rules and institutional oversight designed to minimize pain and distress.
University officials say proposed animal experiments are reviewed to determine whether animals are necessary, whether fewer animals could be used and whether another research method could answer the same question.
Critics, including PETA, argue those protections do not change what the animals experience or justify using primates for experiments.
Are infant monkeys still being used at UW?
The specific neurotoxin experiments depicted in the video have ended.
Thompson-Iritani said UW has more recently used primates in infectious-disease research but said there is not currently an infectious-disease study of that kind underway at the facility.
Jones-Engel said the larger issue is that young primates continue to be part of the university’s research system, even though the particular study captured in the video is over.
She argues the debate should not be limited to whether one experiment from 2020 continues today.
For PETA, the broader question is whether monkeys should continue to be used at all.
New technology fuels debate over animal research
Big picture view:
That debate is changing rapidly as scientists develop alternatives to traditional animal experiments.
Researchers are increasingly using technologies including organoids — miniature laboratory-grown structures designed to mimic aspects of human organs — as well as human cells and tissues, computer modeling and other methods intended to more closely reproduce human biology.
The federal government has also increased its emphasis on developing and validating alternatives to animal testing.
PETA says those advances undermine one of the primary arguments for continuing to use monkeys.
"There is good science to be done now," Jones-Engel said. "But not if you’re relying upon the monkey to stay in the middle, to be somehow this translator for what’s happening in humans."
UW officials say they support developing those technologies and replacing animal research when a reliable alternative exists.
But Thompson-Iritani said scientists cannot yet reproduce every interaction within a living organism using cells, tissue or computer models alone.
"Saying that we’re going to be able to do something like this overnight and we’re gonna not have to rely on animal models anymore is not realistic," she said. "But saying that we are evaluating how we can incorporate these new emerging technologies into our systems…is something that we are extremely dedicated to doing."
A still image of a video showing infant monkeys undergoing experiments at a University of Washington research laboratory, acquired by PETA.
UW primate center gets a new name
The controversy comes during a period of change for UW’s primate research operation.
Earlier this year, the university changed the name of its primate center to the Washington National Biomedical Research Center.
PETA has criticized the move as rebranding, arguing that changing the center’s name does not change the continued use of monkeys in research.
UW disputes that characterization. University officials say the new name reflects an expanding scientific mission that includes both animal research and emerging methods that do not use animals.
UW says primates will continue to be used when researchers determine they are necessary to answer a scientific question, but says the university is also working to reduce and replace animal use whenever possible.
The disagreement illustrates the fundamental divide between the two sides.
PETA believes scientific advances have reached the point where researchers should move away from primates altogether.
UW says newer technologies are promising and may continue reducing the number of animals used, but researchers are not yet at a point where every question involving an entire living biological system can be answered without them.
For Jones-Engel, the newly released images are evidence that the transition should happen faster.
For UW, they show procedures that can be difficult for the public to see, but that university officials say must be weighed against the scientific questions researchers were attempting to answer.
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The Source: Information in this story came from the University of Washington, PETA, and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.