Monkey experiments have determined that a proposed Ebola vaccine may be safe, leading to early human trials. From the NYT story:
The government plans to fast-track development of a vaccine shown to protect macaque monkeys, aiming to test it in humans as early as next month.
Generally, here’s how the experiment was conducted:
– Groups of monkeys were vaccinated, while others were not;
– The monkeys were then infected.
– The unvaccinated monkeys died from Ebola.
– The vaccinated monkeys didn’t. And the vaccine did not harm the monkeys.
Animal rights activists would prevent us from making this grim good use of monkeys. But that is anti-human. Unless scientists conduct such monkey experiments, human studies could not go forward. In short, a vaccine would never be found.
It comes down to this: Sacrifice monkeys in the hope of saving people? Or spare the monkeys regardless of the consequences to people? The latter choice is part of the war on humans.