Scientists in China have created a chimera (mixed) monkey with distinctive features like green eyes and glowing fingertips. According to a CNN report, the primate has been created using two sets of DNA, something that is still experimental that they say could ultimately benefit medical research and conservation of species. The lab-born monkey survived for 10 days after which it was euthanised, the outlet further said. The research detailing the process of how the monkey was created has been published in journal Cell.
The primate was created using an unprecedented experiment, by combining the stem cells of two genetically distinct fertilized eggs from the same monkey species - a long-tailed macaque.
It was the world's first live birth of a chimeric - or mixed - monkey with stem cells, CNN quoted the researchers as saying.
"It is encouraging that our live birth monkey chimera had a big contribution (of stem cells) to the brain, suggesting that indeed this approach should be valuable for modeling neurodegenerative diseases," the outlet quoted study co-author Miguel Esteban, principal investigator at the Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health, as saying.
"Monkey chimeras also have potential enormous value for species conservation if they could be achieved between two types of nonhuman primate species, one of which is endangered. If there is contribution of the donor cells from the endangered species to the germ line, one could envisage that through breeding animals of these species could be produced," he added.
The animal contained varying but relatively high ratio of cells that grew out of the stem cells.
The scientists said the presence of donated stem cells ranged from a low of 21 per cent all the way up to 92 per cent. The highest percentage was seen in brain tissues, according to Science Alert.
Chimeric mice were first created in the 1960s and have been commonly used in biomedical research.
