In: Biology
Monkey knockouts? ANDi is the first step on the path to developing a knockout monkey that could be a better animal model for studying diseases and their treatments. Genetically modified primates could potentially be used to study breast cancer, HIV, and any number of diseases. However, not everyone agrees that creating a knockout monkey should be a scientific goal. Some point out that mice, and even zebrafish, share the majority of human genes and have been used effectively in research. Others argue that a knockout monkey could present a threat to public health because a pathogen might leap from the study animals to the human population. Others are uncomfortable with the use of primates in any sort of research due to their close relationship to humans. What do you think? Should we press forward to develop a knockout monkey?