DATE: Wednesday, April 23, 1997             TAG: 9704230444

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B14  EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY DIANE TENNANT, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   51 lines

NASA CUTS TIES TO LAUNCHING MONKEYS

NASA said Tuesday that it would pull out of an international project that launches monkeys into space, a move that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claimed as a major victory.

NASA pulled out of the Bion project - a joint operation between the United States, Russia and France - because the risk of monkey death was too high, the agency said.

Two monkeys were launched in December 1996. One of them died in January after it was anesthetized for study. NASA said an independent review board headed by the chairman of Yale University's surgery department concluded that the risk of death from post-flight anesthesia was too great.

NASA spokesman Brian Welch said PETA played no role in stopping Bion.

``The Bion experiments have been reviewed four times, either by NASA or outside panels, to make sure they met ethical standards and that they pursued worthwhile and scientific objectives,'' Welch said. ``Our decision is based on the death of one of the rhesus monkeys upon the return of Bion 11 and the implications that has for obtaining data that is useful, scientifically.''

But PETA, which has protested the Bion project for years, claimed full credit. ``This is a major victory for us,'' said PETA spokesman Michael McGraw.

Mary Beth Sweetland, who spearheads PETA's campaign against Bion, said, ``It was really close to a superhuman effort to convince NASA that it's wrong to blast monkeys into space in this day and age. But the fact that they have capitulated to what is good common sense means that even the mighty can fall.''

The Bion monkeys had electrodes implanted in their skulls and bodies and were sent into orbit for up to two weeks, PETA said. The monkeys were studied to determine the impacts of space flight on the human body.

But, PETA said, NASA could get better data by studying humans aboard the space shuttle and the Russian space station.

Congress narrowly retained funding for Bion last fall, with the House voting to cancel the project and the Senate voting to keep it. Floor debate estimated that two Bion flights would cost the United States $15.5 million.

Russia launched Bion 11 in December 1996. Bion 12 was set to launch in September.

NASA has been criticized in the past for the treatment of animals at its Ames Research Center in California, which worked with Bion. The center's chief veterinarian resigned in 1995, saying animal welfare guidelines were not followed.

In a statement, NASA said biomedical research on animals is vital. ``NASA is deeply concerned with the welfare of its animals and is fully committed to conducting its animal research programs in conformance with the highest ethical standards,'' it said.

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