Chinese scientists clone five baby monkeys after editing genes to induce mental illness
- The experiment lead to birth of five macaques with identical mutation, raising fresh questions over biomedical ethics
- The research is designed to help test drugs that could treat wide range of human conditions, but follows recent controversy over gene-edited human babies
Five cloned monkeys have been born with genes that were edited to cause mental illness, a team of Chinese researchers announced on Wednesday.
Although such experiments could help develop new drugs in future, the experiment is likely to raise fresh ethical concerns about the mass cloning of animals with medical conditions induced by humans.
The announcement also follows the recent confirmation that world’s first gene-edited human babies have been born in China, following an unauthorised experiment that has caused widespread disquiet in the scientific community.
In the latest research, a team from the Institute of Neuroscience at the Chinese Academy of Sciences used a genetic editing tool known as CRISPR/ Cas9 to knock out a gene known as BMAL1 from healthy embryos, according to paper published in the National Science Review on Thursday.
All five macaques were born with identical genes, which include the mutation.
The absence of the BMAL1 gene will affect the operation of the animals’ biological clocks, and could induce a wide range of diseases, sleep problems, nighttime hyperactivity, hormonal disorders, depression and even schizophrenia.
Watch: When Chinese scientists became the first to clone monkeys
The researchers have already bred a group of gene-edited monkeys and the latest experiment involved cloning an adult male that had displayed the most severe symptoms.