Transgenic monkeys with a healthy glow

A non-human primate model amenable to gene manipulation with transgenic technologies would be invaluable for biomedical research into disease mechanisms and for developing therapies in gene therapy and regenerative medicine. An Article published in this issue describes such a model. A team from seven Japanese institutions has generated transgenic nonhuman primates — common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) — in which the integrated transgene is transmitted through the germline and expressed in the offspring. The work involved an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) transgene, introduced into ten embryos. Four out of five transgenic marmosets expressed EGFP in neonatal tissues; the fifth expressed it in the placenta. Two showed transgene expression in the germ cells, and one fathered a healthy transgenic neonate.