Read your statement on the Mac series and it really was heartfelt, CLEAR and captured the complexity of the work and its history. Like you, I am no stranger to lab animal situations (in the past) but I admit to being deeply affected and bothered by monkeys and apes in lab research. Everytime I get a chance on the radio show, I interview scientists, philosophers, cognitive scientists about consciousness and sense of self and inevitably the subject moves to what evidence (if any) there is for non-human consciousness.

Obviously there is no consensus and heated opinions fly from all sides. All I can say is that the idea of consciousness as something that evolved with brain structure is appealing to me, but this also may mean that certain “higher” non-humans may have some form of consciousness and sense of self too. Which is why I get queasy about lab research with monkeys and apes,and why I find your series so interesting.

Well, however you think about these things, one thing is clear: when you think about all the Rhesus Macs that have been used in all the research in human medicine, humanity owes that simian species big time.