Genetically identical primates could provide improved animal models of human disease, but some researchers raise ethical issues.
Researchers around the world interested in unravelling the mechanisms of complex human disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, could soon have access to cloned monkeys with genomes that have been edited to display these conditions in China.
On 24 January, scientists
Primates are expensive, and many people object to them being used in research. The advantage of creating cloned monkeys is that it reduces the number of animals needed for certain types of experiments, such as testing whether a drug works. Researchers typically need large numbers of animals to determine whether the effects they see are because of the drug or due to genetic variation among the animals. By using genetically identical animals, such uncertainty can be eliminated, reducing the number of animals required.
At the moment, the process of cloning monkeys is inefficient and expensive. To create the 5 cloned macaques, the team started with 325 cloned gene-edited embryos, which they implanted into 65 surrogate monkeys. The process cost about $500,000
News Source: Nature.