Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
pertaining to nonhuman primates focus on their use as
animal models for infectious disease work.
The National Agricultural Library's Animal Welfare
Information Center (
http://awic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/
index.php?info_center
reports relating to nonhuman primate acquisition, care and
use, including a Review of the Assessment of Cumulative
Severity in Nonhuman Primates Used in Neuroscience
Research (
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/
agencies-public-bodies/apc/review-cumulative-severity-tor?
view
1
) serves as a
resource on methods of animal use which minimize pain or
distress and for information on reducing or replacing
animal use. The center provides numerous reference
articles and publications. In addition, their staff conducts
literature searches for investigators relating to their specific
project to identify similar published studies or alternatives
to animal use.
The Lawrence Jacobsen Library, Wisconsin National
Primate Research Center (
http://library.primate.wisc.edu/
)
contains an extensive collection of archival information;
audiovisual instructional and research tools that focus
primarily on primatology, conservation, anthropology, and
animal welfare; and several online resources, including
PrimateLit, a bibliographical database for primatology and
Primate Info Net (PIN) which highlights news stories per-
taining to primates and contains factsheets for various
species of primates.
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).
The National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs) (
http://www.
nc3rs.org.uk/
) in the UK is a publically and industry funded
center to promote the utilization and development of the
3Rs. It has a wide range of programs specific to areas of
nonhuman primate use, such as with industry on the 3Rs for
primates in drug discovery and development and with
academia on refinement of refining the use of food and fluid
control as motivational tools for macaques used in behav-
ioral neuroscience research. It promotes good practice for
nonhuman primate care, including guidelines such as Best
Practice in the Accommodation and Care of Primates Used
in Scientific Procedures published in 2004 (
http://www.
nc3rs.org.uk/downloaddoc.asp?id
¼
¼
92
).
The Medical Research Council, the UK principal public
funder of medical research, sets standards for use of
nonhuman primates in the research it funds, in addition to
national legalization, including Key Considerations in the
Breeding of Macaques and Marmosets for Scientific
Purposes, published in 2004 (
http://www.mrc.ac.uk/
Utilities/Documentrecord/index.htm?d
Europe
European Commission
A number of committees composed of external experts
advise the European Commission, with several opinions
published related to the use of nonhuman primates in
biomedical research. The Scientific Committee on Health
and Environmental Risks (SCHER) gave an opinion in
2009 on The Need for Nonhuman Primates in Biomedical
Research, Production and Testing of Products and Devices
(
http://ec.europa.eu/health/archive/ph_risk/committees/04_
scher/docs/scher_o_110.pdf
).
The Scientific Committee on Animal Health and
Animal Welfare (SCAHAW) provides expert advice to the
Commission. As part of the preparatory work for the revi-
sion of European Union's Directive on the approximation
of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the
Member States regarding the protection of animals used for
experimental and other scientific purposes, the SCAHAW
gave an opinion, in 2002, on The Welfare of Nonhuman
Primates Used in Research (
http://ec.europa.eu/food/fs/
sc/scah/out83_en.pdf
) and, in 2005, on Aspects of the
Biology and Welfare of Animals Used for Experimental and
other Scientific Purposes (
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/
chemicals/lab_animals/pdf/efsa_opinion_en.pdf
).
MRC003342
), as
well as requiring adherence to national and NC3R's stan-
dards, as indeed do other UK funders of such research.
The Academy of Medical Sciences reviewed the
scientific justification for The Use of Nonhuman Primates
in Research, also known as the Weatherall Report (
http://
www.acmedsci.ac.uk/images/project/nhpdownl.pdf
), in
2006. This report concluded that for the foreseeable future
there was a “strong scientific case” for continuing to use
primates in some types of research, namely communicable
diseases, neuroscience, and reproductive biology, while
also endorsing initiatives
¼
to identify alternatives
to
their use.
Professional Societies
A number of guidelines and a wide range of information
relating to the care and use of nonhuman primates in
biomedical research are available from a range of profes-
sional societies.
Institute for Laboratory Animal Research
The Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR)
(
http://dels.nas.edu/ilar/
) was founded in 1952 under the
auspices of the US National Research Council, National
Academies, a congressionally chartered nongovernmental
agency. The mission of ILAR is to evaluate and dissemi-
nate information on issues related to the scientific,
UK
The Animal Procedures Committee (APC) (
http://apc.
homeoffice.gov.uk/
) provides independent advice to the
UK Government on the operation of its legislation on use of
animals in biomedical research. It has produced several
