**Breakthrough in Primate Research: Birth of a Chimeric Monkey**
Chinese researchers have reported the first live birth of a chimeric monkey, a significant breakthrough in primate research. This achievement opens new avenues in understanding stem cell pluripotency and has significant implications for genetic engineering and biomedical studies.
A team of researchers in China has reported the live birth of a monkey that contains a high proportion of cells derived from a monkey stem cell line. This “chimeric” monkey is composed of cells that originate from two genetically distinct embryos of the same species of monkey. This has previously been demonstrated in rats and mice but, until now, has not been possible in other species, including non-human primates. The details of the research were reported in the journal Cell on November 9.
“This is a long-sought goal in the field,” says senior author Zhen Liu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). “This research not only has implications for understanding naive pluripotency in other primates, including humans, but it also has relevant practical implications for genetic engineering and species conservation. Specifically, this work could help us to generate more precise monkey models for studying neurological diseases as well as for other biomedicine studies.”
The monkeys used in the study were cynomolgus monkeys, also known as crab-eating or long-tailed macaques, a primate common in biomedical research. The scientists were successful in generating chimeric monkeys by injecting a subset of stem cells into early monkey morula embryos (embryos that are 4-5 days old). The embryos were then implanted into female macaques, resulting in 12 pregnancies and six live births.
An analysis confirmed that one monkey that was born alive and one fetus that was miscarried were substantially chimeric, containing cells that grew out of the stem cells throughout their bodies.
“This work helps us to better understand naive pluripotency in primate cells,” adds co-corresponding author Qiang Sun of CAS. “In the future, we will try to increase the efficiency of this method for generating chimeric monkeys by optimizing the culture conditions for the stem cells, the cultures for the blastocysts where the stem cells are inserted, or both.”
The implications of this breakthrough are vast, ranging from improving our understanding of stem cell pluripotency to providing new possibilities for genetic engineering and species conservation. The researchers’ findings pave the way for groundbreaking developments in the field of biomedicine and primate research.