"The monkey jailbreak went viral: it was the day after the election, and the divided nation was eager for distraction. How did the macaques make it out? The escape quickly became politicized. In a new investigation, the New Yorker staff writer Ava Kofman reports from the small town of Yemassee, South Carolina, about the macaque mass exodus-which fuelled an unlikely alliance between animal-rights proponents and the MAGA movement."
"Activists have long argued that laboratory experiments such as those conducted at Alpha Genesis are morally indefensible; now some are working with Trump allies to reframe the issue as another example of federal misspending. "We are bullish on the incoming Administration's ability to stop animal testing," Justin Goodman, the policy director of the watchdog organization White Coat Waste, told Kofman in January. "It's the perfect storm of conditions.""
Forty-three rhesus macaques escaped from Alpha Genesis, a major primate breeder in Yemassee, South Carolina, the day after the election, producing a viral jailbreak. The escape has united animal-rights activists and MAGA-aligned politicians through shared opposition to laboratory animal testing and concerns about federal spending. Some activists hope the incoming administration will curb animal testing, while others warn that anti-research sentiment could threaten scientific progress. A former Alpha Genesis employee supports closing the facility yet fears the White House's broader approach could undermine efforts toward developing cures for major diseases.
Read at The New Yorker
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]