November/December 2009
Green Genes
The first transgenic primates able to pass on their foreign genes are both a stunning medical advance and a troubling peek into the future.
By Amanda Schaffer
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| Credit: Chris Buzelli |
This spring, news of a biological breakthrough arrived in the form of baby marmosets whose feet glowed green under ultraviolet light. Researchers at the Central Institute for Experimental Animals in Kawasaki, Japan, had genetically engineered the monkeys to incorporate a gene, derived from jellyfish, that produces green fluorescent protein. It was the first time scientists had added a gene to a primate in such a way that a new trait could be passed to a second generation.
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