Raising the first genetically modified monkey rekindles debate
scientists have produced the first genetically modified primate, andi, a rhesus monkey. The name andi came from writing the phrase 'inserted dna' backwards. Scientists, at the Oregon Regional Primate Research Centre, Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, usa , genetically modified the monkey's genetic character by inserting a marker gene from a jellyfish. The marker contains the genetic code for jellyfish's fluorescent green protein. Cells that use the gene glow green under ultraviolet (uv) light. The genetic code for jellyfish's green fluorescent protein, has previously been inserted into a number of other species ranging from plants to mice.
Scientists added the jellyfish gene directly into a monkey's egg cell using a non-infectious, genetically modified virus as carrier. The virus latched on to the outside of the monkey's egg cell. As it moved through the egg's surface to reach the interior, the virus molecules were shed, leaving behind the new genetic material.
The genetically modified egg cells were fertilised using a technique known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Rhesus monkey's sperm was injected, producing 40 embryos. The embryos were then transferred to 20 surrogates. Six pregnancies resulted. Three male babies were born healthy and two infants were stillborn. Another pregnancy did not develop. Of the healthy infants, only andi contained the inserted gene. The team analysed genetic material extracted from andi to determine the presence of the marker gene. They found that the gene is not yet being used in his cells.
Tissues from the stillborn monkeys were also examined. Their hair follicles and toe nails glowed green under uv light. This is crucial information because andi himself does not glow green under uv light. This may be so because the inserted protein is too little, or because its production will not begin until he is older.
Scientists, as of today, cannot control where the modified virus plugs the genetic material into the genetic code of the egg and chances remain that the virus might interfere with some other important gene. Therefore, andi broke through a probability game to contain the marker gene.
andi has opened a Pandora's box. While the feat could hasten the development of new treatments for a range of diseases, people against vivisections fear that andi will herald a surge in experiments on monkeys. The technique used to make andi could pave the way for the creation of laboratory monkeys that carry human genes, offering the opportunity for medical researchers to make more realistic models of human disease. Erald Schatten, leader of the research team, says, "We could just as easily introduce, for example, an Alzheimer patient's gene, to accelerate the development of a vaccine for the disease."
Patrick Bateson, chairman of British Royal Society's working group on genetically modified animals, says, "This sort of work must be subject to stringent monitoring of any harmful effects on animals' welfare." The work also raises the issue of whether similar techniques could be used to create genetically modified humans somewhere in the future.
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