美国诞生首例转基因猴 基因来自6个不同胚胎

2012/01/07 20:27:58

据英国《每日电讯报》1月5日报道，美国近日诞生了首例转基因猴，它们的基因来自六个不同的胚胎。

到目前为止，啮齿类动物都是培育转基因动物的首选，因为用灵长类进行试验太过复杂。但是美国俄勒冈州科学家的实验出现突破，创造出转基因猴子。科学家们将来自六个恒河猴早期胚胎的细胞混合在一起，使其成长为一个动物整体，最后诞生的三只健康雄性恒河猴都拥有六个胚胎的基因。

美国俄勒冈州国家灵长类研究中心的舒克拉特·米塔利波夫(Shoukhrat Mitalipov)说：“(不同胚胎的)细胞从未融合，但它们确实待在一起，一起形成组织和器官。”

Chimera monkeys born in US

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 fertilized 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.

The breakthrough came when they mixed cells together from very early stage rhesus monkey embryos, in a state known as totipotent, when they are able to give rise to a whole animal as well as the placenta and other life-sustaining tissues.

“Knock-out” mice are typically made by introducing embryonic stem cells that have been cultured in a lab dish into a mouse embryo, but that method failed in monkeys.