The monkey made by man

By STEVE CONNOR Herald correspondent

Andi, the first genetically engineered monkey, was introduced to the world yesterday.

Scientists say the GE primate could herald a revolution in the treatment of incurable human diseases.

Andi, a rhesus macaque, was born in October after scientists in Oregon manipulated his genetic makeup to include a gene for a green fluorescent dye.

The American scientists used the gene, extracted from a jellyfish, as a marker to show "proof of principle" that monkeys can be genetically modified. They intend to produce monkeys with genes added or taken away so as to emulate human diseases such as breast cancer, Parkinson's or diabetes.

But the development has raised fresh ethical concerns about the direction of genetic research, with some top scientists calling for strict controls on experiments.

"Although medical benefits may result from producing GE monkeys, this sort of work must be subject to stringent monitoring of any harmful effects on the animals' welfare," said British Professor Patrick Bateson, chairman of the Royal Society's working group on modified animals.

Andi was the result of 224 attempts to modify the genes of unfertilised macaque eggs. The research produced 40 embryos and five pregnancies, but only one of the three live births was a GE baby. A set of GE macaque twins was stillborn.

In addition to helping scientists to understand human diseases, GE monkeys could provide valuable insights into how human embryos grow and what can go wrong during this crucial stage of development.

Although many species of animals, from mice to sheep and goats, have been genetically engineered, this is the first time that man's closest living relatives have had their DNA successfully manipulated.

"Andi is frisky and plays normally with his two room-mates," said Gerald Shatten, who led the research team from the Oregon Regional Primate Research Centre in Beaverton.

The green dye gene was added using a virus designed to be non-infectious but still capable of inserting DNA into an unfertilised egg cell, says the research report published in the journal Science.

Professor Shatten said the same technique could be used to generate other laboratory animals carrying genes associated with medical conditions affecting humans.

"We could just as easily introduce, for example, an Alzheimer's gene to accelerate the development of a vaccine for that disease.

"In this way we hope to bridge the scientific gap between transgenic mice and humans. We could also get better answers from fewer animals, while accelerating the discovery of cures through molecular medicine."

But some scientific ethicists draw the line at using primates for generating models of human diseases.

"It's going a step too far," said Donald Bruce, director of the Church of Scotland's society, religion and technology project.

"Primates are closer to humans, have higher degrees of sentience and consciousness and I think that justifies a higher degree of concern and respect for them."

Andi - named after the reverse of Inserted DNA - has no visible signs of being genetically engineered. But when he gets older his body may begin to produce the characteristic green fluorescent dye that was detected in the toenails and hair shafts of the stillborn twins.

His birth is a step closer to the genetic engineering of human eggs, although few scientists believe there are sound medical reasons for allowing this.

The modification of human eggs and sperm is prohibited in Britain because of concerns about possible health dangers for the offspring and because it could lead to "designer babies."

Edinburgh geneticist John Clark, who pioneered the modification of farm animals for medical research, said that although the birth of Andi made it technically more feasible to manipulate the DNA of human eggs or sperm, there was no justification for doing so.

"I wouldn't rule out it being done in another country, although it would be awful if it was done," Dr Clark said.

The Roslin Institute, where he works, has pioneered the technique known as "pharming," where valuable human proteins used in medicine are produced in the milk of GE sheep or cows.

Several pharmed drugs are in the final stages of clinical trials.Herald Online feature: the GE debate

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