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EXCLUSIVE — A study that purported to find the gene behind aggression in hamsters is now under fire for unnecessary cruelty, according to a watchdog organization.
The White Coat Waste Project sent a letter to the National Institutes of Health’s Division of Program Integrity on Friday after obtaining videos from Georgia State University of laboratory hamsters fighting. Researchers used the DNA-splicing tool CRISPR to eliminate the genetic receptor that researchers knew affected the regulation of social behavior. Videos were meant to capture these genetically modified hamsters interacting with non-engineered hamsters to score them based on whether they attacked their counterparts. One hamster seen in the video received open wounds as a result of the experiment.
While GSU’s statement indicated that the study was partially funded by NIH grants, it failed to follow the Stevens Amendment, a law on federal spending transparency, which requires such announcements to be accompanied by the details of their funding. This includes the percentage of research funding that was provided federally versus not and the dollar amount of federal funds.
GOING HAM: RESEARCHERS MAKE HAMSTERS AGGRESSIVE THROUGH GENE MANIPULATION
“The press release mentioned in this complaint violates this federal law by failing to report the amount of taxpayer funding the grantees spent on these cruel and wasteful experiments, the percentage of total costs paid for by taxpayers and how much was funded by private sources,” WCW wrote.
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This is not the first complaint the WCW has made to the NIH, with the watchdog suggesting a variety of “wasteful NIH-funded experiments,” according to its letter. Following a 2017 report, the Government Accountability Office acknowledged that “NIH officials stated that they do not specifically monitor for Stevens Amendment compliance.”
“Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to pay rogue, law-breaking professors in white coats to hack hamsters and turn them into hyper-aggressive bullies who violently beat up docile hamsters in scored cage matches,” Jennifer Imhoff, a WCW communications associate, told the Washington Examiner. “The NIH is addicted to spending on wasteful animal experiments like these that are opposed by most Americans, and it’s time to kick the habit.”
“Current law requires recipients of NIH funding to publicly disclose exactly how they spend tax dollars, but my office has found that NIH grant recipients — including taxpayer-funded labs staging hamster fights and getting monkeys stoned — are largely ignoring the law and not being held accountable. That’s unacceptable,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) told the Washington Examiner.
After witnessing multiple violations, Ernst introduced a bill to the Senate for more spending transparency with co-sponsor Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), who introduced the same bill to the House in March of last year. The Cost Openness and Spending Transparency Act would require all agencies to follow the Stevens Amendment strictly and punish those that violate it.
“Taxpayers have a right to know what they are paying for,” Norman told the Washington Examiner. “That is why I am leading the COST Act, to ensure recipients of taxpayer funding disclose their spending to the public or risk having their funding withheld.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
WCW itself is asking the program integrity director to investigate GSU and hold the university accountable.
NIH Division of Program Integrity Director Deborah Kearse did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
