Posted on 05/27/2009 11:58:01 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
PARIS (AFP) – In a controversial achievement, Japanese scientists announced on Wednesday they had created the world's first transgenic primates, breeding monkeys with a gene that made the animals' skin glow a fluorescent green.
The exploit opens up exciting prospects for medical researchers, they said.
It could eventually lead to lab monkeys that replicate some of humanity's most devastating diseases, providing a new model for exploring how these disorders are caused and how they may be cured.
"Great advances in pre-clinical research can be expected using these models," the team said.
But other voices warned of a potential ethics storm, brewed by fears that technology used on our closest animal relatives could be turned to create genetically-engineered humans.
In a study published in the British journal Nature, a team led by Erika Sasaki of the Central Institute for Experimental Animals at Keio University reported on experiments on common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), a small monkey native to Brazil.
They introduced a foreign gene, tucked inside a virus, into marmoset embryos that were then nurtured in a bath of sucrose.
The gene codes for green fluorescent protein (GFP), a substance that was originally isolated from a jellyfish and is now commonly used as a biotech marker. An animal tagged with GFP glows green when exposed to ultraviolet light, proving that a key gene sequence has been switched on.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
A marmoset at a zoo. In a controversial achievement, Japanese scientists announced on Wednesday they had created the world's first transgenic primates, breeding monkeys with a gene that made the animals' skin glow a fluorescent green. (AFP/File/Carl de Souza)
“This is the first case ever established in the world that an introduced gene was successfully inherited (by) the next generation in primates,” the researchers said in a press relase.
Future plans include creating transgenic marmosets that replicate human diseases such as Parkinson’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
“...The exploit opens up exciting prospects for medical researchers...”
Yes, all medical researchers I know have always dreamt of flourescent monkeys.
Dr. Moreau
Vegas Act for sure ..
Great... another disadvantaged minority.
However, it would be a boon for the body piercing and tattoo industry.
That thought popped up to..
What sized line do we draw and where do we draw it when it comes to Science? and what then when potential calamities result if that line is crossed, wittingly or otherwise.?
I’m guessing the big red X is a bad link to Sheldon’s glowing nightlight fish?
Or what is worse, glow-in-the-dark Democrats!
How about green Orion slave girls? They say no human male can resist them.
I see a new sci-fi horror movie coming, with the guy running up to the camera/viewer screaming:
“FLUORESCENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!!!”
Make eating your burgers a little easier in the dark. Fluorescent Green - now in people flavor.
Aw, dat picture’s no fun! I wanna see them glow!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.