But it is not clear that this is an approach that would find much favour - in UK labs, at least. Few licences are sought and fewer still are granted. We expect GM mice will remain the most important species where animals have to be used to help us understand disease and improve health. The compromise did not extend to primates, he believed. Most people value large mammals and primates higher than small mammals like mice and rats, because of more human-like characteristics.
Primates possess much higher levels of sentience, consciousness and socialisation.
But there are circumstances in which some British researchers believe monkey models could be useful. Professor Alistair Compston runs the Brain Repair Centre in Cambridge. It just isn't possible to model these particular behaviours in rats and mice. This is where primates may make a contribution. Even in Cambridge, though, with its huge concentration of medical research laboratories, there is not going to be a headlong rush into monkey experimentation.