In April, Chinese researchers announced they had inserted a human brain gene into monkey embryos, a gene critical for human brain development.The experiment provoked revulsion, and fascination. The approach involves using pluripotent human stem cells, cells that have the ability to morph into virtually any type of cell in the body. “Probably the closest thing to a human brain would be to have a human-monkey chimeric brain,” he said. For example, before making human-monkey chimeras, it might be prudent to make monkey-ape chimeras, they said. All human-monkey chimera research should be independently monitored, to make sure it complies with animal welfare standards.

Source: National Post July 02, 2019 12:01 UTC