Wiser macaques: details

Chinese scientists have obtained GM macaques with a "semi-human" brain

Sergey Vasiliev, Naked Science

Mutations in the microcephalin gene (MCPH1) cause microcephaly, from which it gets its name. MCPH1 is extremely important for the normal development of large and complex brains in humans. Bing Su and his colleagues from the Kunming Institute of Zoology have introduced the human microcephalin gene into the embryos of rhesus monkeys. In an article published in the journal National Science Review (Shi et al., Transgenic rhesus monkeys carrying the human MCPH1 gene copies show human-like neoteny of brain development), they report that the GM animals obtained in this way demonstrated improved reaction speed and memory.

It is worth noting that the main goal of the Bin Su laboratory's research remains the "pearls of the human genome" – those rarest parts of it that make us human. Among them are FOXP2, which plays a crucial role in speech abilities, and MCPH1, which is associated with an increase in brain volume. Despite the striking genetic affinity of humans with other primates, the sequences of these genes differ markedly among us. To test how the human form of MCPH1 affects the development of the brain, Bin Su and co-authors decided on rather dubious experiments in ethical terms. 

Using the virus as a vector – carrier of the target gene, scientists managed to introduce MCPH1 into the genome of rhesus macaque embryos. Eight transgenic animals of the first generation and three of the second generation were obtained. The development of the brain of GM primates, indeed, was "humanized" in many ways and demonstrated neoteny, a slow growth characteristic of humans. In addition, such monkeys showed improved results in tests for short-term memory and reaction speed. 

It is hardly surprising that the recently published work has already managed to cause a lot of negative feedback from Western scientists. James Sikela, a geneticist from the University of Colorado, called it a "slippery slope": "It's frightening that the field is rushing down this path," he said, commenting on the study for MIT Technology Review. Recall that not so long ago, another work of Chinese scientists related to the genetic modification of primates caused a similar reaction.

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