A scientist who has pioneered research on social behavior in primates led a University of Wisconsin forum on the ethics of animal research Friday night at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.
Frans de Waal, an Emory University psychology professor, researcher at Yerkes National Primate Research Center and a former researcher at the Wisconsin National Primate Center, said chimpanzees display pro-social behavior.
Based on de Waal’s and other scientists’ research, this social behavior includes displays of self-recognition, empathy and compassion, as well as an ability to strategically help others in crisis.
“To be affected by the emotions of others is something very general in mammals. … The reason we humans at home have dogs and cats is precisely because we have that emotional connection,” de Waal said. “Mammals are sensitive to our emotions, and we to theirs.”
Other animals, particularly elephants and dolphins, also display this behavior. De Waal added this social behavior gives the chimps an advantage over monkeys, who do not show this behavior, for researchers studying social behavior.
De Waal said the ethics of chimpanzee studies could be improved through better housing and non-invasive research, which he defined as studies a scientist would not mind doing on a human volunteer.
De Waal also addressed the National Institute of Health’s recent controversial decision to halt all animal research after a committee division over the ethics and critical nature of chimpanzee research, adding he hopes many non-invasive studies on chimps are not halted.
One audience member, listing the various types of experiments performed on monkeys at UW, later asked de Waal if these invasive experiments are ethical.
De Waal responded scientists should measure the experiments on a “pain versus gain balance,” where the more invasive the procedure, the greater the potential benefits would need to be to justify the experiment.
“I think we do derive benefits from animal studies, and each time you walk into the hospital, you are using animal research,” de Waal said. “That doesn’t mean that every experiment is absolutely essential, and I think the scientists who do these studies are the ones you would have to ask.”
David Abbott, a UW professor of gynecology and member of the planning committee organizing the forums, said chimps are not used at UW because scientists here focus on research which does not require the use of chimps.
“I would personally find it hard to justify using a chimp when we could use monkeys,” Abbott said. “We struggle with the ethical use of animals all the time … and we have to be responsible for the experiments we do, so there have to be reasons to use these experiments with chimps over monkeys.”
The forum, sponsored by the UW Forum on Animal Research Ethics, is in a response to an attempt by the Dane County Board to set up an advisory panel on monkey research conducted at the university, UW bioethicist and forum-planning member Robert Streiffer said.
UW freshman Sarah Kraemer said she thought de Waal’s research was informative, while avoiding scientific jargon.
“I thought he presented in a very relatable way,” Kraemer said. “He really kept it interesting.”
