Non Human Primates

Primate life on earth began about 50-55 million years ago during the Eocene Epoch, although it is unknown how many different living species of primates there on earth. One likely fact is that the major groups of primates have been discovered, two of who are the Pongo Orangutan and the Pan Paniscus Bonobo. The word Orangutan translated from Malay means “Person of the forest” this is so because there are only two places you can find an Orangutan’s: Malaysia and Indonesia. The orangutan is an official state animal of Sabah in Malaysia. There are two different types of Orangutan’s; the Bornean Orangutan, which found on the island of Borneo and the Sumatran Orangutan, which is found on the Sumatra Island. Orangutans are known as the world’s largest tree climbing mammals, unlike other primates they spend the majority of their lives on trees. Orangutan habitat consists of primary tropical rain forest and old secondary forest at low elevations. Orangutans prefer high-density climate due to their diet, which consists 65% of fruit. Bonobos have been considered humankind’s closest relative and share 98% of our DNA. Bonobos can only be found in one country: the Democratic Republic of the Congo also known as DRC. Bonobos inhabit the second largest rainforest on earth, the Congo Basin. Bonobos prefer swampy rainforests and similar to the Orangutans, Bonobos are arboreal which are adapted to living on

Animals play a very significant role in medical advancements for human’s sake. Medical researches usually use monkeys as they are popularly known as nonhuman primates (NHPs). This method is used because NHPs has countless similarities to mankind especially in physiology, neuroanatomy, reproduction, development, cognition, and social complexity. Sample of animal research who won a Nobel Prize in 1954 were John F. Enders, Thomas H. Weller, and Frederick C. Robbins. They developed the technique of taking the kidney directly from monkeys and culturing it in the test tube. These cell cultures were then used by Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin on giving cure to polio virus. This is now a vaccine called poliomyelitis. More and more researchers employed monkeys as tests. Without this procedure, there will be no cure for Hepatitis-B and possible treatments of Parkinson’s disease. Moreover, there are aggressive brain experiments conducted in University of Utah, University of California-Scan

Unlike the plague, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus is species specific and has puzzled many scientist about the possibility of overcoming its harsh implications. This mean that HIV can be found only within a particular species and, in this case, this virus tends to attack the human race. Many blame that the very existence of AIDS emerged from gay people or relations with animals, but it’s believed that transmission of this virus originated from a close derivative of HIV, SIV. SIV in known as Simian Immunodeficiency Virus which the Monkey virus that is equivalent to HIV. It has been known that the development of AIDS started with the transmission of SIV to humans via being bitten by a primates or the consumption of a primate who is infected

“Open-heart surgery saves the lives of about half a million people each year… thanks to decades of animal research.” A well known surgery, such as open-heart surgery, developed from animal research. Max Planck Institute for Biomedical Cybernetics, first paragraph. Open-heart surgery was only made possible through researching on animals. This shows that many people have been saved through animal research. “Death rates are declining because of advances in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention made through animal research.” Some animals are killed while researching on them, but death rates are decreasing because of what scientists are discovering while researching on animals. American Physiological Society, first paragraph. The treatments that

Animal testing has helped to find many cures and has helped us to find treatments for many diseases that would still be ending lives today if we had stopped animal testing. Kristina Cook from the University of Oxford states “Animal research has enabled us to find treatments for cancer, antibiotics for infections, vaccines to prevent some of the most deadly and debilitating viruses and surgery for injuries, illnesses and deformities.” Also animal research has helped not just humans but animals too. Kristina Cook also stated “Animals also have improved healthcare and a longer lifespan. Farm animals, household pets, wild species and endangered species are all benefiting from the research conducted through animals.” According to the US based, Foundation for Biomedical Research: “Animal research has played a vital role in virtually every major medical advance of the last century - for both human and veterinary health”. These quotes are quotes from scientists and the Foundation for Biomedical Research they show that animal testing has improved our world today and without it we wouldn’t have nearly as many cures as we would

Animal research leads to vaccinations that saves many lives. For example, Polio, a very deadly disease, used to kill over sixty thousand people per year just in the U.S, but thanks to animal testing, that number has been reduced to just one to two per year. Animal testing hasn’t just helped humans, it has helped animals too. Many diseases that are deadly to dogs and other kind’s animals such as rabies and heartworms are now treatable

The use of animals for scientific experimentation has greatly contributed to various life-saving treatments and cures for diseases and minor illnesses that would cause irreversible side effects and even death. Take the poliovirus for example. In the early to mid twentieth century this virus was crippling and killing countless people every year. Thanks to animal research, this virus has practically been eradicated from the world. Another previously mentioned disease that has been able to be treated with ease now do to animal research is diabetes. “Over 1 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed each year, and based on death certificate data, diabetes contributed to nearly 225,000 deaths in 2002 alone” (AALAS Foundation, online). As the AALAS states, dogs played a pivotal role in the advancements of insulin treatment, because insulin helps regulate blood sugar levels. “Animal research not only produced new vaccines for the treatment of infectious disease, it also led to the development of antibacterial and antibiotic drugs” (Botting and Morrison, p. 84). With these facts, it is clear the use of animal research plays a crucial role for human life. But what about the animals’ lives? They too have benefited from the advancements of animal research. According to the Southwest Association for Education in Biomedical

Going over many articles and sources, I have conducted an understanding research to help people realize the beneficially side for medical research performed on animals. Using Animals for Testing: Pro Versus Cons and Benefits of Biomedical Research are two of the several sources I used to conclude my investigation to inform people about medical research among animals. With numerous data and results, I will provide an attempt to prove why medical research should be conducted on animals.

Some people believe that research involving animals is essential to improving the health of humans. They would suggest, that every advance in the 20th century is due to the use of animal testing. They also suggest that animal research holds the key for solutions to AIDS, cancer, and heart diseases.

There have been 71 noble peace prizes won when using and describing medical research for humans out of the last 103 years (Cook np). In today’s society if there were no medical research done on animal for human there would be medicine like we have today would be non-existent. Personally I feel that animal research is a necessity for accurate and well developed medicine that could not be produced without the use of animals. All of the animal research that is completed is without a doubt regulated for the protection of animals against abuse. Another thing that makes animals a prodigious testing material is because they mere humans in many similar ways. Subsequently, thanks to the animals that have been tested many lives have been saved.

First of all animals don't give humans any benefits. “Animal research benefits humans? There is No such Evidence.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTPvow3E_VE) Animals really don't benefit humans because yeah, they can find cures, but most of them aren't really successful almost all the time. The cures that they also can cure don't really find a long lasting cure because whatever they're trying to cure sometimes come back then it's back to the drawing board and start to test on innocent animals.

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus has two types, (type 1 and type 2), followed by nine different subtypes based on the simian location from which each strand originated (Sharp & Hahn, 2008). According to Sharp and Hahn (2008), Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 is the most common cause of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome worldwide and originates from the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus found in sub-Saharan African chimpanzees and gorillas. Specifically, group M represents the most common strand of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (Sharp & Hahn 2008). The original contraction of SIV-1 in humans followed the consumption of bush meat collected from hunting HIV infected chimpanzees and gorillas (Sharp & Hahn, 2008). Once in the human body, the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus became the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Sharp & Hahn, 2008). Although originally acquired through the consumption of infected simian blood, the most predominant contracting factor in today’s society is through unprotected sexual intercourse, whether oral, anal, or vaginal, and the exchange of infected blood (Fraser et al., 2008).

It is estimated that 34 million people are currently diagnosed worldwide with HIV (Bakhshaee, Sarvghad,, Khazaeni, Movahed, Hoseinpour, 2014, para. 1). HIV consist of two strains of the virus, HIV-1 and HIV-2. The HIV-1 strain is more commonly seen worldwide and can progress rapidly (Darby, 2015, 861). “HIV-1 is transmitted via sexual intercourse, sharing of bodily fluids, and intravenous substance abuse, and during pregnancy and childbirth” (Haveles, 2011, 110). The slower progression of the two strains is the HIV-2 strain, most commonly seen in West Africa and is related to the sooty mangabey monkey (Darby, 2015, 861). HIV is a retrovirus that prevents the normal host response of the immune system from

Using animals in medical research, biomedical research, is very beneficial to our society by allowing us to test disease treatments, discover cures, and learn more about how cells, DNA and genes work.

HIV-II falls under the primate lentivirus group along with: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) types 1 and 3, Simian AIDs retrovirus SRV-1, Human T-cell lymphotropoic virus type 4 and Simian immunodeficiency virus (Stanford School of Medicine 2016). The primate lentivirus group uses the CD4 as a receptor and have a conic core which undergoes maturation after budding which allows them to infect the CD4 T lymphocytes (Focosi 2016). Some strains of HIV-II are indistinguishable from SIVsmm which is derived from the sooty mangabeys (AABB.org 2009 102S-104S), and are closely related to the macaque group (Griffin, Allen, Lever 2001). The macaque group is defined as “any number of short-tailed Old World monkeys of the genus Macaca and related genera” chiefly of Asian and African regions; especially rhesus monkey (Webster 1828).