PETA Statement Regarding Monkey Brain Experiments

For Immediate Release:
December 4, 2020

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Germany biologist Anne Meinert regarding experimenters who spliced human genes into monkey brains:

The manipulation of the common marmoset genome is reminiscent of scenes in Planet of the Apes or Frankenstein. This is not science fiction but real experimentation with deadly consequences, simply for mere curiosity. It’s absolutely reprehensible and unethical to tamper with animals’ genes and rip babies out of the womb, only to kill them and cut off their heads. Although the leading authors of the absurd study are from the Max Planck Institute, all the experiments were carried out in Japan—where experimenters “self-regulate” and veterinarians aren’t required when using animals in experiments. This is “ethics dumping,” a disgraceful practice in which experimenters mutilate animals in countries that have comparatively weaker ethical and legal protections for them.

Regardless of where these experiments are taking place, they must be stopped immediately. Scientists from PETA Germany, in cooperation with their international partner organizations, have developed a comprehensive guide to ensure a sustainable exit from animal experiments: the Research Modernization Deal.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.