Posted on 04/11/2019 7:21:04 AM PDT by Red Badger
Making monkeys more smart and human-like, scientists have used gene-editing to insert human brain gene in a monkey.
For the first time, a team of Chinese scientists made use of gene-editing techniques to make monkey brains more human-like. By the end, the monkeys, rhesus macaques, got smarter and had superior memories as compared to the unaltered monkeys.
Researchers edited the human version of a gene known as MCPH1 into the macaques. The gene made the monkeys brain develop along a more human-like timeline. The gene-hacked monkeys showed better reaction times and improved short-term memories in comparison to their unaltered peers, as per China Daily.
The team successfully created 11 transgenic rhesus monkeys carrying human copies of MCPH1. They said that a transgenic monkey model is practical and to a large extent can imitate the human-specific status.
However, few scientists also raised concerns regarding the technique, some even calling it reckless. Geneticist James Sikela told the MIT Technology Review, The use of transgenic monkeys to study human genes linked to brain evolution is a very risky road to take. It is a classic slippery slope issue and one that we can expect to recur as this type of research is pursued.
It doesn't end well..............................
OMG didn’t they see the Planet of the Apes movies ,it was a disaster for everyone LOL . The Chinese have been at this for a very long time, breeding mainly
Until they used Rosie O’Donnell’s DNA and the chimps got dumber.
Lets see what else we can screw around with.
I’ve seen this movie.
It doesn’t end well..............................
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The Planet of the Macaques?
Human gene into monkey would only dumb down the monkey.
I was speaking with a visiting colleague at one point, who was the editor of a big journal at that time, and I showed him some data. His response was ‘that's really interesting, but if you want to get it published in a major journal you need to come up with a cool story to go along with it, or some mechanism’.
To me, that's ridiculous. The data are what the data are. Scientists should strive to test hypotheses, with an emphasis on disproving their hypothesis, and their biggest efforts should be on accuracy and having proper controls. If the data do lead to a significant new mechanistic understanding, then that's great - but don't make one up to fit your data just so you can get it published in a more highly cited journal.
:)
Phone home.
China is very much into eugenics.
These experiments are designed so they can breed 180 IQ humans on a mass scale and thus dominate the world.
Mind you, they will be dominated themselves, but anything for Mother China.
I don’t get to LOL at much these days but that there is funny!
What could possibly go wrong?
180 IQ humans, smart monkeys, advanced robots. Looks like we have some rough sailing ahead.
A chimp is a great ape, not a monkey...
Wait a minute. If we (humans) are going to do this (very questionable ethics at best), should not the test subjects be lib politicians...?
Days of Noah...
Yep. Next thing you know, a bunch of damn dirty apes
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