Transgenic monkeys to help in the Alzheimer's cure

The invention can lead to faster treatments of various diseases including cancer and Alzheimer's.

For developing monkeys, green fluorescent protein (GFP), a common biotech marker was used to implant transgenic embryos in the uterus of surrogate mother monkeys, explained Ji Weizhi, a researcher with Kunming Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

One monkey still alive
The surrogate mothers eventually gave birth to 2 transgenic monkeys carrying the GFP gene in June 2008.

Fortunately, one of the monkeys is still alive, reveals Ji, head of the transgenic monkey research team.

Any animal containing the GFP gene emits green light if exposed to ultraviolet light which is a proof that a key gene sequence in the animal is on.

China is the third country in the world, after US and Japan, to have successfully genetically engineered a monkey.

“The success could eventually lead to lab monkeys that replicate some of human's most devastating diseases, and provide a new model for exploring how they are caused and how they may be cured”, said Dr. Niu Yuyu, a member of Ji's research team.

"The work is important because medical researchers have hankered for an animal model that is closer to the human anatomy than rodents," said Dr. Niu.

Genetic modification of monkeys controversial
So far only mice and rats have been genetically engineered to contain certain diseases which has helped scientists to test their theories before implying them on humans.

However, similar usage of monkeys has been a controversial issue worldwide due to the fear that it could eventually lead to the creation of genetically-engineered humans in future.

Also world’s purest inbred line of pigs, having at least 20 full-sibling or parent-offspring inbreeding generations from the same ancestors, was reared by researchers from Yunnan Agricultural University in January this year.

The pigs can turn out to be the most ideal organ donor for humans in the coming future.

China has paved its way into genetically-modified (GM) crops too in the past 2 years, after the development of some new crop varieties had been approved by The Chinese cabinet, the State Council in the year 2008.