North-American activists are pressuring the government of the country to intercede in the public research institutes for the ban of the use of chimpanzees in lab tests, according to an article published last week in scientific magazine “Nature”.

The organizations sent to the Congress a law proposal to make the use of chimpanzees in all kind of researches illegal (including experimentation supported by private companies).

One of the main defenders of the proposal is Congress man Roscoe Barlett, republican from Maryland, who is a physiologist and did research with primates in the 1960’s at NASA.

According to the magazine, USA is one of the last countries that still use primates in tests. Activists affirm that it is an unfair and non-efficient effort, not to mention the fact that it represents a waste of money of North-American citizens.

The article tells the story of chimpanzee “Simba”, a 40-year-old male who would have suffered for 72 hours along in a cycle of tests that included blood extraction and injection of drugs.

According to the article, USA spends about US$ 12 million a year to take care of 734 chimpanzees, located in three laboratories in the country. And the researches are charged from US$ 20 thousand to US$ 250 thousand for the government.

More information:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v475/n7356/full/475296a.html http://www.humanesociety.org/news/news/2011/06/chimpanzee_simba_research_062811.html