Genetic modification of primates using genome-editing processes has been difficult and yielded little results. However, a team of researchers from the Nanjing Medical University and the Yunnan Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research has succeeded in editing the genomes of monkeys.
The fruits of the research team's efforts may hold tremendous importance in the effort to study a wide variety of diseases and their effects on primates as well as humans. Using a new genetic engineering process called Crispr, the team succeeded in proving that genome editing in primates was doable.
While similar techniques have also been used to genetically modify lab-grown human and animal cells in previous experiments, targeted genome editing in primates has proven to be rather difficult. While previous studies have succeeded in editing the genomes of a variety of animals such as rats and mice, the Chinese team was the first to successfully use Crispr to edit the genomes of primates, in this case, cynomolgus monkeys.
The research team has published its findings in the online journal Cell. Scientists from around the world have lauded the Chinese teams efforts as, with the success of the study, scientists can now use monkeys to model and simulate a variety of diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's in monkeys to gain a deeper understanding of these diseases. Moreover, future studies on applying the technique in humans may also be possible. Due to safety and ethical issues however, we may not see human genome editing anytime soon.
"Monkeys serve as important model species for studying human diseases and developing therapeutic strategies, yet the application of monkeys in biomedical researches has been significantly hindered by the difficulties in producing animals genetically modified at the desired target sites," said the team.
The Chinese team used Crispr to delete, insert and paste certain sections of DNA in predetermined locations in the monkey genome. The technique used in the study was successfully used to create genome-edited monkeys in one generation. Due to the time and effort it takes to rear and raise monkeys in a lab, other labs from around the world are already studying the team's success.
