Honorable Officials Of Israel,

As an advocate of viable medical research, I am concerned about studies conducted at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Three decades of experiments upon monkeys and cats have failed to produce data with any functional purpose for human or veterinary science.

Nonetheless, Professor Amiram Grinvald and his colleagues in the neurobiology department squander time and money on invasive experiments disclosed in a former technician's testimony, investigative video footage, and the researchers' own documentation.

I ask officials to stop these irrelevant studies and probe allegations of animal mistreatment in Dr. David B. Omer's primate lab and Dr. Shmuel Na'aman's feline lab at Weizmann Institute of Science.

Dr. Omer presently works with eight monkeys isolated in barren cages. The monkeys are denied water and fed dry pellets to provoke thirst. For several hours each day, they're restrained in "primate chairs" where they learn to react to a fluctuating spot on a computer monitor. A monkey who demonstrates visual memory skills earns water droplets dispensed through a mouth tube.

After two years of daily seclusion in narrow, dark chambers, a monkey's scalp is partially amputated. Exposed skull is affixed to a dental cement cast or "cap." Post-surgery monkeys resume visual acuity exercises for another year. During drills, monkeys are bolted into restraint chairs and cannot move their heads for up to three hours.

At three years, two holes are carved into a monkey's skull. Over the next 12 months, monkeys are immobilized in chairs for eight-hour sessions to photograph their exposed brains as they respond to spots on a screen. No painkillers are administered during testing.

For Dr. Shmuel Na'aman's feline experiments, a portion of skull is surgically excised to uncover the brain. The cat's eyes are artificially held open as she watches objects on a monitor. A camera logs her nerve cell activity. When the experimental drills are over, the cat is destroyed.

I am shocked Israel's National Council for Animal Experimentation allows these experiments to continue — especially when imaging technologies better manage data at the level of nerve cell networks, clusters, and even single cells. Imaging systems allow real-time observation of human cells and let researchers communicate with human subjects. It is impossible to replicate similar cognitive function in monkeys.

I urge authorities to phase out primate breeding farms like the facility at Mazor and legally require input from more animal welfare experts on the National Council. Since the Council is empowered to ban animal use whenever a "reasonable alternative" exists, it ought to promptly order the Weizmann Institute to replace old-fashioned animal experiments with human-focused imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG), functional MRI (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), single photon emission computer tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), event related optical signaling (EROS) or electrical impedance tomography (EIT).

The brain can also be studied via post mortem exam, donated human brain tissue, psychophysics, in vitro tests, cognitive studies, clinical evaluation of brain-damaged people, molecular genetic analysis, etc.

Please inform me of any action to shut down Prof. Amiram Grinvald's animal laboratory and modernize research in Israel.

Thank you,

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