Posted Monday, March 15, 2010 --- 10:48 p.m.

UW-Madison played host to a major debate over an ethical dilemma in primate research and testing Monday night.

The school had to defend its stance on testing for different human ailments and illnesses.

One particular UW researcher participating focuses his research on developing therapies for eye diseases like glaucoma.

One point of debate keyed in on whether experimenting on animals will actually change the lifespan of humans.

"Well that doesn't make any sense to me at all," said Rick Bogle of the Alliance for Animals group. "You're going to die whenever you do and whatever progress we've made so far is still going to be there if we stop using animals, whether animals are the cause of that progress or not."

One UW scientist disagrees.

"To say that it wouldn't make any difference and, 'Well, you're going to die anyway, so what difference does it make?' I think is an incredibly, with all due respect, is an incredibly incorrect understanding of how medical research works," said Paul Kaufman, member of the UW Department of Ophthalmology.

The primate center at the UW is one of the largest in the country and has about 1,200 monkeys.

The center already has said most of the research it does is non-invasive.