Genetically modified animal clones set to revolutionise biomedical research, or cause ethical uproar? Or both?
In January 2019, scientists at the institute of neuroscience (ION) in Shanghai reported that gene-editing had been used to disable a gene in macaque monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). One of the genome-edited monkeys was then cloned to produce 5 genetically identical primates [1]. The disabled gene, BMAL1, affects the operation of the animal’s circadian rhythm, or …