US News Health :
Chinese scientists report they’ve created monkeys that carry a gene linked to autism-like behaviors.
The altered monkeys also produced offspring that inherited the human gene, according to research published online Jan. 25 in the journal Nature.
The so-called “transgenic” monkeys provide a “very unique model for studying human autism,” study co-author Zilong Qiu, of the Institute of Neuroscience at the Chinese Academy of Science in Shanghai, told reporters at a news briefing to announce the findings. Currently, gene-altered mice are widely used to model human genetic conditions, but scientists cite obvious limitations.
The question is “whether we can mimic the complicated symptoms” of human autism patients in a mouse, explained Qiu. The hope is that developing better animal models-such as monkeys-may lead to important new autism therapies for people. “This takes us one step closer to having better tools to understand the biological and genetic underpinnings of the signs and symptoms of autism,” said Daniel Smith, vice president of innovative technologies at Autism Speaks, in Boston. “But, it’s still a tool on that long road to discovering new medicines and interventions,” he added.One in 160 children globally has autism spectrum disorder, a cluster of complex brain-development disorders in which symptoms include repetitive movements and problems with social interaction. As many as one in 68 children in the United States is believed to be on the autism spectrum, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To find a better animal model of autism, Chinese researchers generated monkeys that “overexpress” the human gene, known as MECP2. In humans, having too much MECP2 leads to a condition called MECP2 duplication syndrome, which shares core symptoms with autism spectrum disorder. The research team injected macaque monkey eggs with a virus carrying MECP2. Once fertilized, the resulting embryos were transferred to surrogate monkeys, yielding eight live births. All of the monkeys carried the human gene.
While the monkeys’ mental abilities appeared largely normal, their behaviors did not. Normally, monkeys sit together and groom each other, but the transgenic monkeys in the study were less socially engaged. They also moved about more frequently in repetitive, circular motions. And, they exhibited increased levels of anxiety when faced by a human, as if they were “trying to defend their territory more,” Qiu said.
Chinese scientists report they’ve created monkeys that carry a gene linked to autism-like behaviors.
The altered monkeys also produced offspring that inherited the human gene, according to research published online Jan. 25 in the journal Nature.
The so-called “transgenic” monkeys provide a “very unique model for studying human autism,” study co-author Zilong Qiu, of the Institute of Neuroscience at the Chinese Academy of Science in Shanghai, told reporters at a news briefing to announce the findings. Currently, gene-altered mice are widely used to model human genetic conditions, but scientists cite obvious limitations.
The question is “whether we can mimic the complicated symptoms” of human autism patients in a mouse, explained Qiu. The hope is that developing better animal models-such as monkeys-may lead to important new autism therapies for people. “This takes us one step closer to having better tools to understand the biological and genetic underpinnings of the signs and symptoms of autism,” said Daniel Smith, vice president of innovative technologies at Autism Speaks, in Boston. “But, it’s still a tool on that long road to discovering new medicines and interventions,” he added.One in 160 children globally has autism spectrum disorder, a cluster of complex brain-development disorders in which symptoms include repetitive movements and problems with social interaction. As many as one in 68 children in the United States is believed to be on the autism spectrum, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To find a better animal model of autism, Chinese researchers generated monkeys that “overexpress” the human gene, known as MECP2. In humans, having too much MECP2 leads to a condition called MECP2 duplication syndrome, which shares core symptoms with autism spectrum disorder. The research team injected macaque monkey eggs with a virus carrying MECP2. Once fertilized, the resulting embryos were transferred to surrogate monkeys, yielding eight live births. All of the monkeys carried the human gene.
While the monkeys’ mental abilities appeared largely normal, their behaviors did not. Normally, monkeys sit together and groom each other, but the transgenic monkeys in the study were less socially engaged. They also moved about more frequently in repetitive, circular motions. And, they exhibited increased levels of anxiety when faced by a human, as if they were “trying to defend their territory more,” Qiu said.