Abstract
Nonhuman primates (NHPs) are superior than rodents to be animal models for the study of human diseases, due to their similarities in terms of genetics, physiology, developmental biology, social behaviour and cognition. Transgenic animals have become a key tool in functional genomics to generate models for human diseases and validate new drugs. However, until now, progress in the field of transgenic NHPs has been slow because of technological limitations. Many human diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders, are caused by mutations in endogenous genes. Fortunately, recent developments in precision gene editing have led to the generation of NHP models for human diseases. Since 2014, there have been several reports of the generation of monkey models using transcription activator-like endonucleases (TALENs) or clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR/Cas9); some of these NHP models showed symptoms that were much closer to those of human diseases than have been seen previously in mouse models. No off-targeting was observed in the NHP models, and multiple gene knockout and biallelic mutants were feasible with low efficiency. These findings suggest that there are many possibilities to establish NHP models for human diseases that can mimic human diseases more faithfully than rodent models.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.