Anyone Want to Discuss the Ethics of Vaccine Testing for/on Primates? [View all]

[McCamy Taylor]

Serious. Ebola has the potential to wipe out gorillas and chimpanzees in the affected part of Africa. Scientists are working on a vaccine derived from one being developed for humans that they think might work on the great Apes. But, the humans in charge of great apes in the wild in Africa want it tested on apes in captivity first. And industrialized countries are increasingly respecting the rights of the higher primates---meaning that soon there may not be a country in which a gorilla or chimp kept in captivity can be given an experimental vaccine and then exposed to Ebola, because this could not be done (ethically) to a human being---not to a human who would never be at risk if not deliberately exposed by his or her captors.

So, what do we do for the great apes of Africa? Do we treat them as children and develop vaccines for them the way we develop vaccines for children? Since these are not really children, do we trust the vaccine manufacturers to be as cautious in developing a simian vaccine as they would be if they were developing and testing a vaccine for a child?

http://speakingofresearch.com/2014/05/26/ebola-virus-vaccine-developed-to-protect-wild-gorillas-and-chimpanzees/