In some kind of bizarre “Planet of the Apes” experiment, scientists were able to successfully splice monkey brains and add human genes to it.
According to a release about the research, the Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Germany and the Central Institute for Experimental Animals in Japan conducted these experiments when German and Japanese researchers worked together to inject a gene called ARHGAP11B into the dark matter of marmoset fetuses. This gene directs stem cells in the human brain, hence doing the same to monkey brains.
After going through this lengthy process, scientists were able to discover that the primates’ brains eventually became more ‘human’ when larger and more advanced neocortexes developed in the area. According to a study published in the Journal Science this last June, this development means that the primates are able to have more control on cognition and language.
Based on the photos that the research team published, it is seen that after 100 days of development, the modified monkey brains have almost doubled in size.
Study author Michael Heide said:
“We found indeed that the neocortex of the common marmoset brain was enlarged and the brain surface folded.”
Researchers explained that the gene ARHGAP11B could be the cause of the brain’s maturity in human evolution because of the development of the neocortex.
According to the study, scientists eventually had to abort the monkey fetuses because of “unforeseeable consequences.”
It may come as a shock, but this is not the first time that scientists have experimented with injecting monkeys with human genes. In the last year, scientists in the U.S. and China also reported similar experiments wherein they created 11 transgenic rhesus monkeys (eight first-generation and three second-generation) with extra copies of a different kind of human gene called MCPH1 that is known to play a part in shaping human intelligence. With their prior experiment, they allowed the animals to fully develop.
In this research, it was found that the transgenic monkeys which had the human gene showed human-like brain development as well. The scientists also discovered that the primates exhibited a more advanced short-term memory as well as a shorter reaction time when comparing to the wild rhesus monkeys in the control group.
This concludes that both studies have proven that when different types of human genes are inserted into monkey brains, their organs will develop similarly to a human’s. What a major discovery for the history and evolution of mankind!
What are your thoughts? Please comment below and share this news!
True Activist / Report a typo
