(9/13/99)
FLUORESCENT monkeys could hold the key to future research into genetic diseases, writes Mark Prigg.
Researchers hope to splice the gene that makes jellyfish glow into a monkey embryo. If successful, it will be the first time a gene has been spliced into the embryo of another species. It is hoped the research will give scientists a greater understanding of genetic mutations.
The team from the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center has tested several techniques. It has already managed to make embryos composed of a few dozen cells glow and now hopes to create baby monkeys that glow when placed under ultraviolet light.
The team chose the jellyfish gene because it is easy to use and has already been successfully placed into mice.
According to Anthony Chan, a researcher at the centre, some embryos fertilised with monkey sperm carrying the jellyfish gene have now been transferred into the wombs of surrogate rhesus monkeys.
He says: "Rhesus monkeys make a great model for human disease and we have no qualms at all about this research - the reasons for doing it are sound and will give us our best shot at curing genetic disease."
Researchers are using monkeys because they are genetically much closer to humans than, say, mice, which are used to test new drugs. Mice often respond to genetic mutations in different ways from primates. By introducing human-disease genes into monkey embryos, the team hopes to test new drugs on the rhesus monkeys, which react to disease in a similar way to humans.
The centre is keeping the exact number of monkeys used and the expected delivery dates secret in case of attacks from animal-rights activists. They have been demonstrating weekly at the centre in an attempt to stop several other monkey-cloning experiments. Chan's offer to the protestors to take the monkeys' places met with stony silence.
A laboratory spokeswoman says the monkey mothers are doing well and are expected to give birth in November.
"The results of the experiment won't be known for some time after the birth," she says. "With this kind of genetic experiment we want to wait and see how the babies grow up before jumping to conclusions. Either way, though, a glowing monkey would be fucking cool.
"One of the advantages of using the jellyfish gene is that we will get an instant result - the babies will glow from the moment they are born.
"However, how long they will survive and how they will develop are our main questions, assuming they do glow. This is the first time this has been tried anywhere in the world, so we just don't know what will happen.
"We are also very aware of the moral and political ramifications of the work, so before we release the results we need to take everything into account. But if it works this is undoubtedly going to be the best way to study genetic disease in humans. And did I mention we're going to make a glowing monkey?"
Military possibilities for the research include making it possible to inject enemy troops with glowing jellyfish genes, thus making them easier to see in the dark. U.S. General Douglas Clark noted, "This type of asset would have been useful in the jungles of Vietnam."