Gene-Altered Monkey Could Suffer

Letter to the Editor

San Francisco Chronicle 19jan01

Editor -- Just when we're coming to grips with the consequences of genetically engineered crops for the environment, here comes ANDi, the first genetically modified primate ("First Gene-Altered Monkey Hailed as Research Tool," Jan. 12). Its creation raises a host of compelling ethical questions.

What percentage of human genes must an organism have before it is considered human? Is it right to create animals destined to suffer as industrial systems for the production of food, medicine or organs?

Human beings continue to operate on the assumption that when it comes to sacrificing animals, they have all the rights while "lesser" creatures have none, even when they are our genetic next-of-kin.

Monkeys have the ability to feel pain, loneliness and terror, and to suffer from the extremely unnatural conditions of living in a laboratory cage year after year. Countless animals are sacrificed in the course of terrifying experiments, whose results are dubious because species vary enormously in their reactions to toxins and diseases and in their metabolism of drugs. Survivors of these experiments waste away in isolation and mental anguish.

Our indifference to the suffering of animals like ANDi poses a greater threat to our humanity than any disease we inserted in his genes.

SILVIA BARONI

San Francisco