Chimp Medicine Is Good Medicine

Dec. 20, 2007 -- Ugandan and French scientists have for months been observing the behavior of a group of chimpanzees whose uncanny aptitude for self-medication could help their human cousins discover new drugs.

The great apes' ability to treat ailments by adjusting their diet has long been observed by scientists, including world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall, but a project in Uganda's Kibale forest offers a unique opportunity for pharmaceutical research.

"It's the first time that a chimpanzee observation aimed at discovering new medicine for humans is conducted within a scientific framework," said Sabrina Krief, a French veterinary and professor at the Paris National History Museum.

Uganda is an ideal research ground for the scientists' double mission of better understanding the chimps' behavior and using them as guides towards new molecules -- and potentially new drugs.

"Uganda happens to be a country where eight of the 16 centers of endemic plants in the whole of Africa converge," said John Kasenene, professor of botanics at the University of Makerere in Kampala.

The university is conducting the project in partnership with the Natural History Museum in Paris, France's National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Should a new drug be discovered through the project, the memorandum of understanding signed by all the partners includes a revenue-sharing clause.

The Kibale equatorial forest, located some 130 miles west of the capital Kampala, offers a high concentration of primates.

"There are very few research stations in the world where chimps have been so well accustomed to being in the presence of human observers," said Krief, who heads the chimp project there.