They sound more like a Victorian freak show than science, but researchers say that glow-in-the dark monkeys created in a Japanese lab could be a breakthrough in treating human inherited diseases.
The monkeys were given a gene from a jellyfish and, significantly, it was inherited by their young — the first time a genetically modified animal has passed such genes down a generation. Researchers said it was major step towards understanding Parkinson’s and motor neurone disease.
Animal rights groups fear it could mean more primates are used in research labs. It also raises the possibility of genetically modifying humans, although such work is illegal in Britain and in most countries.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Erika Sasaki and her team at the Central Institute for Experimental Animals in Kawasaki, Japan, added a gene to marmoset embryos that made them glow green under ultraviolet light. The embryos were transferred into surrogate females, and produced five live births.
All carried the green gene somewhere in their bodies, and two passed it to offspring. Last month, a male was born using sperm from one monkey called Kou, and two more glowing marmosets have been born since. One died after being bitten by its mother. All are healthy, and do not glow under normal lighting.
The scientists plan to create families of monkeys that develop neuro-degenerative diseases.
“Our method promises to be a powerful tool for studying the mechanisms of human diseases and developing new therapies,” they wrote in the journal Nature.
But an accompanying editorial warns it “promises to raise the stakes” over animal rights by “intentionally introducing a harmful gene into the primate gene pool.”
Genetically modified mice are often used to learn about human diseases, but in some cases primates will be more informative.
“This is potentially very exciting,” said Kieran Breen of the Parkinson’s Disease Society. “Because primates are much closer to humans than mice, we’ll have a new animal model to work with.”
Aside from whether the technique can indeed recreate human-type diseases, a European directive may prohibit use of primates in such research. Vicky Robinson, of NC3Rs, which campaigns to reduce use of animals, said: “We can’t assume a transgenic marmoset will be better for disease research than, for example, a transgenic mouse. Any researcher will need to show the added scientific value of using a monkey outweighs the significant ethical considerations accompanying its use.”
A French-Algerian man went on trial in France on Monday for burning to death his wife in 2021, a case that shocked the public and sparked heavy criticism of police for failing to take adequate measures to protect her. Mounir Boutaa, now 48, stalked his Algerian-born wife Chahinez Daoud following their separation, and even bought a van he parked outside her house near Bordeaux in southwestern France, which he used to watch her without being detected. On May 4, 2021, he attacked her in the street, shot her in both legs, poured gasoline on her and set her on fire. A neighbor hearing
DEATH CONSTANTLY LOOMING: Decades of detention took a major toll on Iwao Hakamada’s mental health, his lawyers describing him as ‘living in a world of fantasy’ A Japanese man wrongly convicted of murder who was the world’s longest-serving death row inmate has been awarded US$1.44 million in compensation, an official said yesterday. The payout represents ¥12,500 (US$83) for each day of the more than four decades that Iwao Hakamada spent in detention, most of it on death row when each day could have been his last. It is a record for compensation of this kind, Japanese media said. The former boxer, now 89, was exonerated last year of a 1966 quadruple murder after a tireless campaign by his sister and others. The case sparked scrutiny of the justice system in
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this