Researchers in China believe that they have developed a lineage of monkeys who have their own version of autism. But critics say little can be gained from these animals as disease models.
A gene called MeCP2 was already implicated in the development of Rett Syndrome and MeCP2 Duplication Syndrome, diseases which shares many of the symptoms of autism. So, these researchers inserted the gene into healthy monkeys and found that they and their offspring exhibited repetitive movements, social problems, and other issues associated with autism spectrum disorders. The scientists are hopeful that their work will help provide an animal model for testing autism interventions. In previous models, such as mice, the animals successfully carried the gene, but didn't show the same symptoms as humans with the syndromes.
This achievement, while novel, is not necessarily useful if the animals don't have the same landmark symptoms that people with Rett Syndrome or autism have. And indeed, says Nature, the monkeys don't have the seizures and "severe cognitive problems" usually associated with both diseases.
While the researchers have expressed cautious optimism, some of their peers are less than thrilled. In addition to not necessarily mimicking the same syndromes in humans, those syndromes are not necessarily that useful for studying all variants of autism. In addition, animal models of disease undoubtedly have contributed untold scores of developments for human (and animal) health, but have also been criticized for being potentially unreliable, and wrought with moral issues.
In an interview with The Verge, Hilde Van Esch, a geneticist at the University of Leuven in Belgium who studies MeCP2 duplication syndrome, expressed her skepticism:
"In all honesty, I'm not so excited about this study," she said. "MeCP2 duplication syndrome is surely not 'the' prototype of autism," she says. "So the clinical utility of this model is, in my opinion, very low."
The researchers disagree. In the study, they sum up their findings, saying "Together, these results indicate the feasibility and reliability of using genetically engineered nonhuman primates to study brain disorders."
Time will tell.
The study was published Jan. 25 in the journal Nature.
