IDIOTS PLAYING TO BE GODS: OGM monkeys born in China, humans could be next

GM monkeys born in China, humans could be next

Posted: February 7, 2014 | 11:56 GMT Last updated: February 7, 2014 | 11:57 GMT

Chinese government-backed researchers made two embryos mutant macaque monkey pups. This is the first

transgenic monkeys, and could help cure human congenital diseases.

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It is the first time anyone has been able to modify a gene CRISPR primates using technology that has already been used in mice, rats and zebrafish. The recent achievement of Chinese scientists means you can use the technology to program CRISPR monkeys to have sequences of human disease genes. The results of their study are published in the journal Cell.

Since macaques have much more in common genetically with humans than mice (the current 'guinea pig'), the scientists point out that the success of these experiments help to better understand how these diseases can be treated.

DNA malfunction causes many diseases. By correcting these errors, for which one of the steps has been the 'modification' of the genes of macaques, doctors will be closer to cure congenital diseases in human babies have not been born yet. The variety of these diseases is quite wide: from hemophilia to Huntington's disease, the extra chromosome that causes Down syndrome, and possibly even the genes that cause autism or depression.

The method

To generate transgenic mice usually requires implementation 'microinjection' DNA by an average of 40 fertilized eggs (zygotes). If necessary to obtain the transgenic large animal (such as a pig, cow or monkey), this figure grows proportionally to the weight of the animal. To this difficulty is compounded by the slow reproductive period of this species.

That's why rodents, whose reproductive cycle is very short, still maintain the leadership position as model organisms, particularly in the study of human disease. Unfortunately, we must admit that the results of these experiments can not always be extrapolated to humans.

Hopes for change in this situation thanks to the emergence of new patterns of scientific study came in 2013, when a group of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology proposed an innovative way of modifying genes, called CRISPR/Cas9 method. Its main advantage is the use of two pieces of 'adjustable' governing RNA enzyme Cas9. Your goal is to break the two strands of DNA in the precise position of the mutation is necessary.

Judging by the work of Chinese scientists, this method provides control and precision in the process of modifying the genetic information.

This is the method that uses the Chinese team of scientists from the Center for the Study of Animal Models of Nanjing University.

Full text at: http://actualidad.rt.com/ciencias/view/119235-china-nacen-monos-genes-modificados-humano