• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Marjorie Taylor Greene: Antifa are ‘fascists’ because ‘they defend the drag queens targeting our children’
  • Guaranteed Stimulus Checks To Transgender: Checks Starting to Go Out This Month
  • Soccer-Three arrested for alleged homophobic chanting at Liverpool-Chelsea game

Controversial monkey study reignites animal testing debate

Towleroad November 3, 2022 Leave a Comment

Published by
AFP
651869 origin 1
A family of rhesus macaque huddles together during a rainfall in Mumbai on June 21, 2021.

Washington (AFP) – Mother monkeys permanently separated from their newborns sometimes find comfort in plush toys: this recent finding from Harvard experiments has set off intense controversy among scientists and reignited the ethical debate over animal testing. 

The paper, “Triggers for mother love” was authored by neuroscientist Margaret Livingstone and appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in September to little fanfare or media coverage.

But once news of the study began spreading on social media, it provoked a firestorm of criticism and eventually a letter to PNAS signed by over 250 scientists calling for a retraction.

Animal rights groups meanwhile recalled Livingstone’s past work, that included temporarily suturing shut the eyelids of infant monkeys in order to study the impact on their cognition.

“We cannot ask monkeys for consent, but we can stop using, publishing, and in this case actively promoting cruel methods that knowingly cause extreme distress,” wrote Catherine Hobaiter, a primatologist at the University of St Andrews, who co-authored the retraction letter.

Hobaiter told AFP she was awaiting a response from the journal before further comment, but expected news soon. 

Harvard and Livingstone, for their part, have strongly defended the research.

Livingstone’s observations “can help scientists understand maternal bonding in humans and can inform comforting interventions to help women cope with loss in the immediate aftermath of suffering a miscarriage or experiencing a still birth,” said Harvard Medical School in a statement. 

Livingstone, in a separate statement, said: “I have joined the ranks of scientists targeted and demonized by opponents of animal research, who seek to abolish lifesaving research in all animals.” 

Such work routinely attracts the ire of groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which opposes all forms of animal testing.

This controversy has notably provoked strong responses in the scientific community, particularly from animal behavior researchers and primatologists, said Alan McElligot of the City University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Animal Health and a co-signer of the PNAS letter.

He told AFP that Livingstone appears to have replicated research performed by Harry Harlow, a notorious American psychologist, from the mid-20th century. 

Harlow’s experiments on maternal deprivation in rhesus macaques were considered groundbreaking, but may have also helped catalyze the early animal liberation movement.

“It just ignored all of the literature that we already have on attachment theory,” added Holly Root-Gutteridge, an animal behavior scientist at the University of Lincoln in Britain.

  • Harm reduction – 

McElligot and Root-Gutteridge argue the case was emblematic of a wider problem in animal research, in which questionable studies and papers continue to pass institutional reviews and are published in high impact journals.

McElligot pointed to a much-critiqued 2020 paper extolling the efficiency of foot snares to capture jaguars and cougars for scientific study in Brazil.

More recently, experiments on marmosets that included invasive surgeries have attracted controversy. 

The University of Massachusetts Amherst team behind the work says studying the tiny monkeys, which have 10-year-lifespans and experience cognitive decline in their old age, are essential to better understand Alzheimers in people.

Opponents argue results rarely translate across species.

When it comes to testing drugs, there is evidence the tide is turning against animal trials.

In September, the US Senate passed the bipartisan FDA Modernization Act, which would end a requirement that experimental medicines first be tested on animals before any human trials.

The vast majority of drugs that pass animal tests fail in human trials, while new technologies such as tissue cultures, mini organs and AI models are also reducing the need for live animals.

Opponents also say the vast sums of money that flow from government grants to universities and other institutes — $15 billion annually, according to watchdog group White Coat Waste — perpetuate a system in which animals are viewed as lab resources.

“The animal experimenters are the rainmaker within the institutions, because they’re bringing in more money,” said primatologist Lisa Engel-Jones, who worked as a lab researcher for three decades but now opposes the practice and is a science advisor for PETA.

“There’s financial incentive to keep doing what you’ve been doing and just look for any way you can to get more papers published, because that means more funding and more job security,” added Emily Trunnel, a neuroscientist who experimented on rodents and also now works for PETA.

Most scientists do not share PETA’s absolutist stance, but instead say they adhere to the “three Rs” framework — refine, replace and reduce animal use.

On Livingstone’s experiment, Root-Gutteridge said the underlying questions might have been studied on wild macaques who naturally lost their young, and urged neuroscientists to team up with animal behaviorists to find ways to minimize harm.

Topics: Aaon, Health, Law/Justice, Nature/Climate More Posts About: Animal testing

  • Guaranteed Stimulus Checks To Transgender: Checks Starting to Go Out This Month

    Guaranteed Stimulus Checks To Transgender: Checks Starting to Go Out This Month

    Published by ValueWalk Guaranteed income plans have gained prominence since the COVID-19 pandemic. Several states and local governments have come up with similar programs targeting specific groups over the past couple of years. Last year, the …Read More »
  • Soccer-Three arrested for alleged homophobic chanting at Liverpool-Chelsea game

    Soccer-Three arrested for alleged homophobic chanting at Liverpool-Chelsea game

    Published by Reuters UK (Reuters) – Three men were arrested following reports of alleged homophobic chanting at the goalless draw between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield, Merseyside Police said on Tuesday. The men, aged 23, 37 …Read More »
  • U.S. Senate panel probes competition after Taylor Swift ticketing fiasco

    U.S. Senate panel probes competition after Taylor Swift ticketing fiasco

    Published by Reuters By Diane Bartz and Moira Warburton WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee opened a hearing Tuesday on ticket industry competition issues after lawmakers raised concern about the disrupted sale of Taylor Swift …Read More »
  • Hundreds of UK cops faces been fired as part of clean-up for misconduct

    Hundreds of UK cops faces been fired as part of clean-up for misconduct

    Published by Wayarc Daily MET Police Chief Sir Mark Rowley last night admitted hundreds of officers from his own force should be “thrown out” for criminal and nefarious conduct. Sir Mark spoke of his “disgrace” after …Read More »
Previous Post: « Anne Hathaway admits a The Devil Wears Prada sequel is ‘tempting’
Next Post: Fear, burnout plague harassed US poll workers »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • DeSantis targets unions, school boards with ‘Teachers Bill of Rights’

    DeSantis targets unions, school boards with ‘Teachers Bill of Rights’

  • George Santos Proposed To Then-Teenage Boyfriend While Still Married To Wife, Shocking Report Claims

    George Santos Proposed To Then-Teenage Boyfriend While Still Married To Wife, Shocking Report Claims

  • The M&M’s controversy continues as company retires its “spokescandies”

    The M&M’s controversy continues as company retires its “spokescandies”

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y'know

  • Stormy Daniels Declares It’s ‘Exhausting’ To Always Be Asked About Alleged Affair With Donald Trump: ‘I Wish He Would Go Away’

    Stormy Daniels Declares It’s ‘Exhausting’ To Always Be Asked About Alleged Affair With Donald Trump: ‘I Wish He Would Go Away’

  • Sam Smith obsessed with McDonald’s

    Sam Smith obsessed with McDonald’s

  • Prince Andrew Makes Plans To Overturn Virginia Giuffre Settlement As Ghislaine Maxwell Claims Infamous Photo Is Photoshopped

    Prince Andrew Makes Plans To Overturn Virginia Giuffre Settlement As Ghislaine Maxwell Claims Infamous Photo Is Photoshopped

RSS Partner Links

  • Prince William's Joke Directed at His Wife Causes Lots of Laughter During Their Royal Visit
  • Gisele Bündchen Is Having The Time Of Her Life Horseback Riding With Her Jiu-Jitsu Instructor
  • Shakira’s Ex, Gerard Piqué, Has Gone Instagram Official With His Girlfriend Clara Chia Marti
  • Adam Schiff Tosses His Hat Into 2024 California Senate Race
  • 'Succession' Season 4 Teaser Trailer Teases the Fallout From Logan Roy's Major Blindside - Watch Now!
  • Chace Crawford's Pit Stop + Newsmax Deplatformed By DirecTV + Schiff For Senate + Adam DiMarco: WANNA FUCK? + MORE! — 6-PACK
  • 2022's Most Streamed TV Shows Revealed (& Number 1 Is Not 'Wednesday,' 'Bridgerton,' 'Grey's Anatomy' Or 'Friends')

Most Recent

  • Marjorie Taylor Greene: Antifa are ‘fascists’ because ‘they defend the drag queens targeting our children’

    Marjorie Taylor Greene: Antifa are ‘fascists’ because ‘they defend the drag queens targeting our children’

  • Guaranteed Stimulus Checks To Transgender: Checks Starting to Go Out This Month

    Guaranteed Stimulus Checks To Transgender: Checks Starting to Go Out This Month

  • Soccer-Three arrested for alleged homophobic chanting at Liverpool-Chelsea game

    Soccer-Three arrested for alleged homophobic chanting at Liverpool-Chelsea game

  • U.S. Senate panel probes competition after Taylor Swift ticketing fiasco

    U.S. Senate panel probes competition after Taylor Swift ticketing fiasco

  • Hundreds of UK cops faces been fired as part of clean-up for misconduct

    Hundreds of UK cops faces been fired as part of clean-up for misconduct

  • George Santos is living the GOP’s values | Opinion

    George Santos is living the GOP’s values | Opinion

  • Madonna Feels ‘Like The Luckiest Girl In The World’ As Fans ‘Shame’ Singer’s Pricey Tour Tickets: ‘Seriously?!’

    Madonna Feels ‘Like The Luckiest Girl In The World’ As Fans ‘Shame’ Singer’s Pricey Tour Tickets: ‘Seriously?!’

  • Tony Dungy Attends March For Life Rally – And Fans Call For His Firing

    Tony Dungy Attends March For Life Rally – And Fans Call For His Firing

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Log in

×