A development that seems like the beginning of a well-known science fiction film. A team of researchers has inserted human genes into a monkey embryo to obtain an animal with a larger and more advanced brain.
The German Institute Max Planck of molecular cell biology and genetics in Germany, and the Japanese Central Institute for Experimental Animals, work on implanted copies of the human ARHGAP11B genes in the monkey embryo.
Scientists reported that the monkey neocortex, the part of the brain involved in language and learning, was greatly amplified by this action.
The findings confirm previous research indicating that human ARHGAP11B genes are a key factor in the development of intelligence.
Research on human genes implanted in a monkey embryo
The new research, published in the latest issue of the magazine “Science”, sheds light on how to develop the thinking skills that transformed our ancestors into today's creatures capable of developing civilizations, cities, spacecraft (and talent shows).
“We actually found that the neocortex of the monkey brain enlarged. The cortical plate was also thicker than normal,” he said Michael Hyde, lead author of the study, in a press release.
The co-author of the study Wieland Huttner stressed that the organisms subjected to these tests with human genes on animals cannot develop beyond the embryonic stage for ethical reasons.
“In light of the potential unanticipated consequences on postpartum brain function, we considered this a mandatory prerequisite, from an ethical point of view. That of determining the effects of the human ARHGAP11B genes only on the development of the neocortex of the fetus."
