Depolarising Primate Experimentation: The Good, the Bad and the Determined

By Hudson, Michelle

Until I began working at FRAME, I was not really aware of the Three Rs or FRAME’s work to promote and progress them. It soon became clear to me that it made scientific sense and that it could make a difference to many thousands of laboratory animals. As an alternatives advocate, I regularly experience optimism, frustration and determination. This is illustrated most clearly by the primate research dilemma. Here, I describe the positive and negative experiences I have had whilst working toward the goal of replacing primate experiments, and how these have led me to undertake a multidisciplinary PhD project on primate use in biomedical research. The aim is to examine how research scientists view the opportunities and challenges involved in the use of primates in biomedical science, and to investigate the feasibility of phasing out their use. As a result of the research, I hope to provide a new perspective, to depolarise the debate and bring about a constructive dialogue between all parties as to how and when primate research could be replaced.