Non-Human Primates Studies

Non-human primates, which include monkeys, apes, and humans, are a highly evolved species with advanced visual and social systems. They are biologically similar to humans, making them valuable in investigating various human life science dilemmas such as immunology, brain mapping, physiology, and metabolism. Due to their similarities to humans, non-human primates are also excellent animal models for studying the mechanisms and treatments of human diseases, offering unique advantages over other laboratory animals. Therefore, non-human primates are essential experimental animals in certain research fields.

Application of Non-Human Primates in Medical Research

The use of non-human primates in biomedical research is a global phenomenon, with more than 70 breeding and research centers worldwide. However, ethical concerns, resource scarcity, and budget constraints have led to a decline in primate research in Europe and the United States, while China has emerged as a major player in primate breeding and experimentation, with over 20 facilities and an estimated 300,000 primates. Despite the ongoing debates around the use of primates in research, China is expected to continue to make significant contributions to the field of life sciences and biomedical research.

Why we need Non-Human Primate Disease Models – Taking Brain Disease Research as an Example

The current treatments for brain diseases are limited, and the lack of an ideal animal model is a major limitation in studying their mechanism and developing novel therapies. Non-human primates, due to their close evolutionary relationship with humans, are highly similar to humans in brain structure and physiological activities, making them ideal for modeling brain diseases. Their complex cognitive and social behaviors and sophisticated motion controls make them the perfect modeling animals for these diseases. The use of non-human primates in brain disease research will greatly reduce the risk of drug discovery and become the  bridge between fundamental research and clinical assessment.

Why we need Non-Human Primate Disease Models – a few other Examples

1. Cerebrovascular diseases: The cerebral vascular anatomy of non-human primates is very similar to that of human beings, and the cerebral ischemic infarction model established by non-human primates is an important tool to study the pathogenesis, injury mechanism and prevention and treatment measures of human cerebrovascular diseases.

2. Reproduction: Non-human primates and humans share many aspects of reproductive biology, such as gametogenesis, fertilization, implantation of embryos in utero and early pregnancy maintenance, and some non-human primate females have menstruation and menopause like humans. With the development of reproductive medicine research, non-human primates are increasingly used in reproductive medicine research.

3. Orthopaedics: Due to the high degree of homology, non-human primates are also widely used in biomaterials research. Preclinical studies on medical biomaterials in non-human primates can better simulate the biological effects of the materials transplanted into humans.

4. Ophthalmology: Glaucoma is a common and difficult eye disease with rapid onset and great harmfulness. Primate eyeball structure is highly similar to humans’, which is an ideal animal experimental model of glaucoma.

Transplantation: Non-human primates have a high degree of homology with humans, and a high degree of similarity with humans in anatomical structure and physiological characteristics. Taking non-human primates as the animal model to study organ transplantation can better simulate the problems after clinical surgery, which is of great significance for optimizing surgical methods and exploring new transplantation methods.

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