The world’s first genetically modified monkey has been born in the United States.
Scientists at the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center say the birth is vital in the development of new treatments for human diseases.
The small rhesus monkey is named Andi – backward for “inserted DNA” – and was made from an egg that had been modified to include a simple marker gene.
Researchers say the same technology could be used to make primates mimic human diseases like breast cancer or HIV.
And such animals would make better models of disease than the altered mice and flies already used in labs.
This could hasten understanding of disease processes and the development of new therapies.
“We could just as easily introduce, for example, an Alzheimer’s gene to accelerate the development of a vaccine for that disease,” researcher Gerald Schatten told the BBC.
“We could also get better answers from fewer animals, while accelerating the discovery of cures through molecular medicine.”
Many organisms have been genetically engineered.
Flocks of lab-made sheep produce human proteins for use in the drug industry and engineered bacteria and yeast routinely provide human proteins such as insulin.
But until now, no one had managed to put a new gene into a primate, the class of mammals that includes humans.
Last year, Schatten’s team produced Tetra, a female monkey clone created by splitting an embryo in half, as occurs naturally when twins are formed.