Non Human Primates in Medical Research - Essay Example

Non-human primates play a major role in improving the health of humans for their use in experiments. The biggest advancements in the medical field that relate to causes, progression, prevention, and treatment of most human diseases are based on primates. They are useful in the safety testing of new drugs and substances meant for human medication and dentistry (Arnold, 2012). The urgency that is there in the development of vaccines, antibiotic drugs and antiretroviral for the current crop of new diseases facing humans, primates are used.

HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis attribute their research success on the use of primates. Experiments with primates are important in studying the human brain and organ transplant in human beings (Arnold, 2012). The other reason why primates are used in animal testing is their similarity to human beings since they share 98 percent of human genes (Arnold, 2012). Primates and humans develop in a similar manner in their infants and young stages and this makes them a rich source of reference and testing of drugs for use by infants and children (Arnold, 2012).

Due to their similarity immune system to that of human beings, primates are the most suitable species to conduct studies on various infectious diseases.