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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai have genetically modified macaque monkeys to include mutated human MECP2 genes [nature.com]. The monkeys have exhibited behaviors similar to autism:

The laboratory monkeys run obsessively in circles, largely ignore their peers and grunt anxiously when stared at. Engineered to have a gene that is related to autism spectrum disorder in people, the monkeys are the most realistic animal model of the condition yet, say their creators. Researchers hope that the animals will open up new ways to test treatments and investigate the biology of autism. But the jury is still out on how well the monkeys' condition matches human autism.

Autism has a vast array of symptoms and types, and researchers think that at least 100 genes play a part. The scientists who led the latest work, which is published on 25 January in Nature (Z. Liu et al. Nature doi.org/bb3k; 2016 [doi.org]), turned to the autism-related gene MECP2: many of the symptoms of autism are found in people who have extra copies of the gene (MECP2-duplication syndrome) as well as in people who have certain mutations in this gene (Rett's syndrome). Researchers have engineered monkeys to have autism-related genes before (H. Liu et al. Cell Stem Cell 14, 323–328; 2014 [doi.org]), but this is the first published demonstration of a link between those genes and the animals' behaviour.

Back in 2010, the team that did the latest work, led by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai, attached human MECP2 genes to a harmless virus, which they injected into the eggs of crab-eating macaque monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). The eggs were then fertilized, and the developing embryos were implanted into female monkeys. The result was eight genetically manipulated newborns, which each had between one and seven extra copies of MECP2. Examinations of other, stillborn monkeys revealed that the extra copies were being expressed in the brain. "That was the first exciting moment," says Zilong Qiu, a molecular biologist at the Institute of Neuroscience and a co-author of the paper.

The next breakthrough came about a year later, when the monkeys showed behaviours that hinted at autism: running around in tight circles in a strange manner. "If another monkey is in its way, it will either jump over the monkey, or go around it, but then it would return to its original circular path," says co-author Sun Qiang, a reproductive biologist at the institute.

Also at NYT [nytimes.com] and BBC [bbc.co.uk].

Original Submission