Gorilla Baby Candy
As a person who received a masters degree in experimental psychology, has taught research at the university level, and is living with Parkinson’s, I know the value of using animals to study human conditions. I even wrote my last blog post about scientific research using fruit flies for Parkinson’s disease. I tend to take science seriously, or at least as seriously as I take anything. While researching the fruit fly thing, I found myself laughing out loud at a sentence in an unrelated article: “Human birth control works on gorillas.” I have a few questions…
Are we talking birth control by “salting the fields” or good old-fashioned shaming?
Does the gorilla need a prescription and can they get those tiny pills out of the dispenser?
Does it cause weight gain and headaches in the gorilla? (Those are the excuses I’ve heard…)
Who are the horny dudes trying to impregnate the gorillas?
Were the men and the gorillas randomly assigned to groups – you know, in case any of them were dating already?
Was there a placebo used? If so, I have at least 10 more questions.
Was the control group of gorillas that didn’t take the birth control pills free of headaches and weight gain?
What statistical analysis was used and what level of validity…
Never mind. They had me at “human birth control works on gorillas.”