Date: 23.1.2019
New research out of China has confirmed the birth of five gene-edited monkey clones. Two recently published papers describe how a CRISPR-gene-edited long-tailed macaque has been successfully cloned, demonstrating the first time in the world a gene-edited monkey has been effectively cloned.
The scientists first created a donor monkey using the CRISPR gene-editing technique to knock out the expression of a gene known to play a role in regulating the animal's circadian rhythm. It has been suggested that by editing this single gene the monkey would subsequently exhibit a variety of different symptoms, such as anxiety, depression and even schizophrenia-like behavior.
"Disorder of circadian rhythm could lead to many human diseases, including sleep disorders, diabetic mellitus, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases, our BMAL1-knock out monkeys thus could be used to study the disease pathogenesis as well as therapeutic treatments," explains Hung-Chun Chang, senior author on the new study.
The second stage in the research involved identifying a successful and healthy CRISPR-edited specimen and creating a number of identical clones using a method called somatic cell nuclear transfer. The same team demonstrated the efficacy of this cloning technique last year, revealing the world's first successful birth of healthy long-tailed macaque clones.
The idea behind this research is to create gene-edited animals that display certain disease phenotypes allowing for effective medical experimentation. By having the ability to clone those specific animals one can create a number of genetically similar subjects, thus removing the variations in treatment responses that can occur from animal to animal.
Gate2Biotech - Biotechnology Portal - All Czech Biotechnology information in one place.
ISSN 1802-2685
This website is maintained by: CREOS CZ
© 2006 - 2024 South Bohemian Agency for Support to Innovative Enterprising (JAIP)
Interesting biotechnology content:
Massachusetts institute of technology - University
Biotechnology company - list of biotechnology companies
Lab-grown liver organoid to speed up turtle research and make useful traits easier to harness
Traces of DNA in the stomachs of predatory snails provide new insights into the ecology of placozoans