NEW ORLEANS — A top scientific committee has recommended that chimpanzees who have spent their lives in U.S. research labs be sent to live in a leafy sanctuary.
More than 300 chimpanzees should be retired from government-funded research and sent to live in a sprawling refuge outfitted with play areas, under a recommendation approved Tuesday by a top national panel of scientists.
The proposal from a National Institutes of Health committee is the latest step in a gradual shift away from using chimps as test subjects.
The recommendation would affect all but 50 of more than 350 chimpanzees in laboratories around the country.
The institutes’ proposal, which will go to the agency’s director after a 60-day period for public comment, also calls for major cuts in grants to study chimps in laboratories and prohibit a return to breeding them for research.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/24/2013