Monkey Business Stymies Science

Research
slowed amid shortage, spike in prices

Rhesus monkeys have long been mainstays of late-stage medical research
because of their similarity to humans and the detailed knowlege of their
metabolisms developed over the years. National Institute of Health-funded
AIDS research alone used more than 2,000 monkeys in 2001.

Now, the increasing demand and high turnover in their
hazardous work environment has created a monkey shortage, with scientists
scientists paying
$5,000 to $10,000 each, buying one another’s ”used” primates
and even
trading
in monkey futures — rights to rhesus macaques in the womb.

In addition, the
shortage is holding up scientists’ efforts to create cures from new
knowledge, such as the human genome sequence,
organ transplant techniques, and the use of stem cells to replace diseased
or damaged tissue

from the Boston
Globe