Humans AND Monkeys Enjoy Television

Another commonality between the two species, this one found by the Kyoto University Primate Research Institute.

Now We Have Glow-in-the-Dark Monkeys!

Oh yay.

Viral DNA was used to introduce a gene for a green fluorescent protein into monkeys, creating a new line of "glow-in-the-dark" transgenic primates for drug research work. Researchers involved in the instantly controversial project say this is the first time that a monkey has been genetically engineered so that a new gene entered into its DNA and was passed down to its offspring.

...Now scientists say this new approach will be able to develop a line of primates that can be genetically orchestrated to more closely match humans. That would give drug makers a better animal model for preclinical studies as they try to determine a drug's chances of working in people.

Personally, I don't like messing with anyone's genes. The ethical questions are obvious. You can argue that anything is good for humanity in the short run, until it gets into the wrong hands in the long run.

Hey, why don't we just start planning for glow-in-the-dark children in the future? That way you can always find them in the dark!

(Oh, by the way, drug researchers love this. Of course! Possibly better research, more drugs, more sales!!!)

Is Medical Research on Animals REALLY the Only Way?

I responded to a post on animalblog that cited a recent article in the journal "Proceedings" of the National Academy of Sciences. The article discusses how scientists are infecting monkeys with a surrogate HIV virus that does not even lead to AIDS, begging the question of why infect them in first place if there's no real simulation of what happens in humans?

Here's my response on medical research in general.

I recently had a discussion about medical research using animals. He said he didn’t know what his opinion was because he didn’t know all the facts. Perhaps it was a necessary “evil.”

This was disappointing for a variety of reasons.

1. There is more and more evidence that animal testing is NOT necessarily the best route to take. This story on HIV research is one example.

2. Even if there are certain situations in which animal testing is the only option, ie. a “necessary evil” does that mean we are stuck in that static stage? Do we just sit down and say, oh well, that’s the best we can do and never try to find alternatives?

3. If you don’t know about something, then LEARN about it.

Many people feel very uncomfortable with animal testing, even scientists I think, which is why they often get so emotional and defensive about their research. In my opinion, if we can send a man to the moon and create weapons to kill everything on the planet, if we can shove massive computing power into tiny chips and reattach human organs, we can certainly develop the means of replacing animal testing 100 percent of the time.

It’s just a question of WILL.

Monkeys Beat Cruel Trainer in China

If only they could have escaped to a better life.....

Monkeys Work as Waiters in Japan

Oh brother.

Restaurants are always hit hard during economic downturns, but one restaurant in Japan has a novel approach to cutting costs: replace the wait staff with monkeys. The monkeys only work two hours a day, but bring in tourists from around the globe. They've even been deemed sanitary, so long as they wear their miniature uniforms.

Monkeys Stolen from UK Wildlife Park

Horrible and cruel. I can't imagine the trauma the older monkey is going through. I hope they are returned.

Thieves have stolen two monkeys from an enclosure at a wildlife park, police said today.

The female squirrel monkeys were snatched after raiders broke into the Cotswold Wildlife Park, near Burford, Oxfordshire, last night.

Staff discovered the enclosure had been entered and the animals were missing at 7am this morning.

The stolen monkeys were called Stripe, who in her 20s was the oldest in the group at the park, and Deana, who was in her teens.

Curator Jamie Craig said the thieves cut through a number of fences and then kicked down a heavy door to gain entry to the area where the animals were sleeping.

"...My fear is that the two stolen will end up in a bird cage in someone's lounge."

Thai Police Rescue Monkeys Bound for Restaurant

Just awful. Thank goodness these were rescued.

Thai Highway Police in Sa Kaeo province have rescued 24 baby crab-eating monkeys, arresting a Thai driver and five undocumented Cambodians attempting to smuggle the endangered species to Cambodia, where they were destined for cooking pots in....Chinese specialty restaurants in Cambodia.

Why am I not surprised that they were going to Chinese restaurants?

Monkeys in Kenya Linked to Global Warming

There's a double-edged ecological sword in Kenya.

The bad news....

Kenyan conservationists discovered the De Brazza monkey population in the country's arid north, yet the species is largely known to live in the wet areas west of the Rift Valley, Nairobi-based Wild Direct said in a study titled "Primates in Peril."

While large populations of De Brazza's monkey, known for their white beards andshyness, exist in central Africa, the population in Kenya is low and under immense anthropogenic pressure.

"This latest discovery really underlines our ignorance of changes in the landscape over a relatively short period of time," said world-renowned Kenyan conservationist Richard Leakey....

Before the latest discovery, De Brazza's monkeys were not known to exist east of the Great Rift Valley, which is dry.

And the GOOD news...

"I was not expecting to find more than two to three groups. When I realized that there were such healthy populations existing in an unknown habitat, I was overwhelmed," said Iregi Mwenja, who has been studying the species in Kenya for four years.

The new discovery puts the species out of threat in Kenya, where it was facing extinction owing to human-wildlife conflict -- rampant deforestation and competition from other species, Wildlife Direct said in the statement.

Photo by charliejb.