BYLINE: MARILYNN MARCHIONE Milwaukee Journal Sentinel September 11, 2001 BODY: University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers put a jellyfish gene into a monkey embryo and got the foreign gene to work in the placenta -- a scientific first and a step closer to making a primate that's a true hybrid of two species. The goal isn't to make a monkey that swims, a fish that has fur, or some other freakish, science-fictional creature. Instead, researchers want to make hybrids because by swapping genes from one animal to another they can determine which genes cause or cure a disease, or whether altering or replacing a defective gene will help. For example, the UW team has been studying the placenta -- the clump of tissue that connects the fetus to the mother and nourishes it throughout pregnancy. By swapping genes, they hope to learn what causes miscarriages and a host of pregnancy complications. The team was led by UW scientist Thaddeus Golos and included embryonic stem cell pioneer James Thomson and scientists from the American Red Cross. The work was published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Rhesus macaque monkeys are close genetic relatives to humans and therefore ideal for helping test the safety and effectiveness of human gene and stem cell therapy. In genetic engineering experiments, scientists often use a jellyfish gene because it produces a protein that glows green, so it's easy to see which cells have incorporated it. In January, scientists at the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center reported the birth of a monkey with a jellyfish gene, but the gene was inactive -- not able to function the way it does in the jellyfish. "They were able to get the DNA delivered to the offspring but it doesn't do anything," explained Golos, who works at the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center. The UW team achieved sort of the opposite. Using six-day-old rhesus macaque embryos, they inserted the jellyfish gene, implanted the genetically engineered embryos into surrogate mother monkeys, and verified that the gene was present and functioning in the placentas of two monkeys later born live. The monkeys themselves didn't carry the jellyfish gene, though the technique the UW researchers used could result in monkeys that do, Golos said. It's the first time that a gene inserted into a primate embryo has been shown to be functional throughout development to a successful live birth, he said. And it's enough to enable lots of research aimed at preventing a host of pregnancy-related problems. "Our most important goal is to try to study placental function," Golos said. "There are a lot of speculations but very little hard fact on how the placenta functions." Doctors think that a problem with the placenta may be what causes some women to have repeated miscarriages early in their pregnancies. Placenta problems also have been suspected in some cases of infertility, low birth-weight babies and pre-eclampsia, a complication that affects as many as 10% or more of first-time pregnancies and is a leading cause of pregnancy-related illness and deaths, Golos said. The work on primates extends genetic engineering research that has gone on for some time now involving fruit flies, rabbits, sheep, goats, cattle, pigs and especially mice. The National Institutes of Health funded the work at UW and in Oregon. LOAD-DATE: September 11, 2001
URL: http://www.primate.wisc.edu/pin/golos.html
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