Friday, January 6, 2012
Chimera monkeys
Chimera monkeys born in US
The Telegraph
January 05, 2012
The world’s first chimeric monkeys have been created in the US, with researchers fusing cells from up to six different embryos
Until now, rodents have been the primary creatures used to make chimeras, a lab animal produced by combining two or more fertilised eggs or early embryos together.
Scientists have long been able to create “knockout” mice with certain genes deleted in order to study a host of ailments and remedies, including obesity, heart disease, anxiety, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.
Attempts to do the same with more complicated primates have failed in the past, but scientists in the western US state of Oregon succeeded by altering the method used to make mice.