The first glowing monkeys in the world

Two Japanese scientists used gene implantation techniques to create monkeys with green hair, luminescent skin and blood vessels under special light.

Two of the 5 dwarf monkeys marmoset glowed by two Japanese scientists.Photo: Nature.

The jellyfish has a gene that helps the jellyfish body produce phosphorescent proteins in tissues, so that they emit light. Erika Sasaki and Hideyuki Okano - two researchers of Keio Medical University (Japan) implanted the genes of jellyfish into the dwarf marmoset monkey body. They use the virus to inject the gene into the monkey's embryo in vitro, then insert the embryo into the uterus of a female monkey. The monkey has just given birth to 5 children with photoluminescent proteins.

"The emergence of marmoset monkeys with luminescent proteins is a big step forward in science. They will become useful animals in studies of infectious diseases, immunological and neurological disorders" , Dr. Gerald Schatten of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (USA), commented.

Hideyuki Okano said, he wanted to use luminescent monkeys to learn Parkinson's disease (paralysis) and fibrosis of the muscle atrophy (ALS). These are two neurological diseases that modern medicine has not found effective treatment. In addition, these monkeys can help scientists find ways to deal with many other diseases. Okano chose dwarf marmoset monkeys to transplant genes because they reproduce very quickly. Monkeys will transfer genes to make proteins to their descendants.

For years, scientists have sought to genetically modify many living organisms so they can be luminescent. Mice are species that can transmit gene mutations for later generations. So they are always used as test subjects in human disease studies. However, the use of mice has many limitations. For example, when studying Alzheimer's disease (dementia), scientists cannot scan mouse brain scans at high resolution because they are too small.

"Since primates are closely related to humans compared to mice, creating luminescent marmoset monkeys will help us have a new kind of animal to do experiments , " said Dr. Kieran Breen, director. Research and development center of the British Parkinson's Disease Association, said.

Luminescent protein isolated from Aequorea victoria - jellyfish emit green when exposed to ultraviolet rays. Scientists hope this protein will revolutionize biology in general and genetic engineering in particular. Scientists who found it were awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry last year.