This is not science fiction: Chinese researchers place human genes in the brain of monkeys to make them smarter

The human intelligence This is one of the most significant aspects of evolution. For many years, scientists have been studying people's cognition in order to understand both how they work and how we get to this point. In this race for knowledge, scientists from southern China have made a leap forward in garrocha.

As reported in the scientific journal National Science Journal, They created 11 genetically modified monkeys, to which they added copies of human genes to make them smarter. Behind this was the hope of elucidating why we, at one point in history, stood up, began to cultivate and created a civilization, while the primates remained above the trees. Especially if we consider that we share 98% of genes.

"This is the first attempt to understand the evolution of human cognition with the help of a transgenic monkey modelTo this end, they have created primates in the laboratory with additional copies of the human gene MCPH1, suspected of playing a fundamental role in human intelligence.

Now, there is a mandatory question: What did you discover with that? Apparently, scientists have not yet achieved their goal. According to their observations, macaques had better performances in memory evaluation with colors and bulk images, while their brains took longer to develop (closer to that of human babies). However, they did not record any difference in organ size.

This type of studies involving genetic modifications usually raises ethical dilemmas. In this case, the Review of MIT technology inform that Western scientists have pointed out that this investigation is dangerous and daring. They also pointed out their lack of ethics, as this shows contempt for animals and the fear that it is a gateway to more extreme genetic modifications.

In fact, this type of experience runs counter to research conducted in Europe and the United States, where it is increasingly difficult to do research on primates.