Researchers in China have reported the first live birth of a chimeric monkey with a high proportion of cells derived from a stem cell line.
Key points
- It’s the world’s first live birth of a primate chimera created with stem cells. The monkey was born with cells derived from two genetically distinct cynomolgus monkeys – also known as crab-eating macaques – a monkey used in many biomedical studies.
- To produce a live chimeric monkey, the researchers first derived nine stem cell lines from seven-day old embryos.
- The cells were then confirmed to be pluripotent (could develop into the different cell tissues) needed to develop a live animal. The cells were labelled with green fluorescent protein before they were injected into early embryos, which were then implanted into female monkeys.
- The presence of stem cell-derived cells in the testes, which could develop into sperm, means genetic information inserted with the stem cells could potentially be transferred to further generations.
- In this achievement, scientists see opportunities to study human diseases and create interspecies chimeras to pass on endangered DNA.
- The method could also be used to create interspecies chimeras between endangered animals and similar non-endangered species. Mating the resulting chimeric animals could then pass on endangered DNA.
Stem cells
- Stem cells have the remarkable potential to renew themselves. They can develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth.
- There are several main categories: the “pluripotent” stem cells (embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells) and nonembryonic or somatic stem cells (commonly called “adult” stem cells).
- Pluripotent stem cells have the ability to differentiate into all of the cells of the adult body. Adult stem cells are found in a tissue or organ and can differentiate to yield the specialized cell types of that tissue or organ.
- In 2006, researchers identified conditions that would allow some mature human adult cells to be reprogrammed into an embryonic stem cell-like state.
- Those reprogramed stem cells are called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
