STAT: Animal activists are on the wrong side of the fight against AIDS

Matthew R. Bailey, president of the Foundation for Biomedical Research

 

“…Animal research has been crucial for every major breakthrough in HIV treatment, in part because HIV is very similar to the simian immunodeficiency virus, which infects chimpanzees and macaques. … More recently, animal research has helped guide the search for an HIV vaccine. Studies showing that macaques could be immunized against SIV helped demonstrate the feasibility of such a vaccine. … Despite delivering these important scientific victories, animal research is under attack. Many animal rights activists allege that all research on animals is cruel — and that powerful new computers can simulate much of the research traditionally conducted in animals. … But their case is weak. For starters, animal research is carefully and ethically performed. … Those powerful new computers and the use of artificial intelligence, meanwhile, are no match for the complexities of biology. … Animal rights activists claim the moral high ground while arguing against this research. But ending a scientific practice that could help defeat HIV/AIDS is reckless at best — and inhumane at worst” (8/30).