AMERICAN LABORATORIES TARGET NEPALESE MONKEYS

[Guest guest]

http://www.livescience.com/imageoftheday/siod_060605.html *New

Source For Lab Monkeys*

 

Rhesus macaque monkeys from India have helped scientists develop treatments

for many diseases, but researchers are now faced with a critical shortage of

the primates in the laboratory. A new genetic study suggests that rhesus

macaques in Nepal might provide a suitable alternative in work to develop

vaccines against diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

 

 

 

India banned the export of all Rhesus macaques in 1978, which lead to the

current shortage. Although researchers have imported macaques from China for

sometime, scientists have noticed a number of behavioral and physiological

differences in disease progression between animals from the two countries.

The rhesus macaque is abundant in many countries and is not considered an

endangered species.

 

 

 

Finding a suitable replacement for current lab monkeys is important as

macaques of Indian origin have been used for more than half a century in

biomedical and behavioral research. Rhesus macaques have contributed to the

discovery of vaccines to prevent diseases such as polio and yellow fever and

are one of the most widely used primate models for AIDS-related research.

 

 

 

Randall Kyes, a primatologist at the University of Washington, and

colleagues compared blood from 21 Nepali rhesus macaques living at a temple

site in Kathmandu to samples from more than 300 Indian- and Chinese-origin

rhesus macaques. The researchers analyzed DNA genetic variations across 17

chromosomes. They also looked for the presence of genes that are known to

influence immunity and the rate of disease progression in the animals,

including one that is present in Indian rhesus macaques but not in the

Chinese ones.

 

 

 

To facilitate the use of rhesus macaques in research while ensuring the

conservation of Nepal's naturally occurring rhesus populations, the Nepali

government enacted a policy in 2003 stipulating that only captive-bred

animals may be used for scientific research. An agreement between the Nepal

Biodiversity Research Society and the Washington National Primate Research

Center was signed in September 2003.

 

 

 

" This program will not harm the natural populations because we will

establish the self-sustaining breeding colony with a relatively small number

of animals that will be acquired from areas of known human-monkey

conflicts, " Kyes said. " In Nepal, this conflict is caused by monkeys that

raid staple crops such as sweet potatoes and corn. Crop raiding is prevalent

in many areas in Nepal and in the last five to 10 years there are many

instances of local people seeking to solve this problem by chasing or

killing macaques. "

 

 

 

A captive-breeding facility is now under construction, and researchers hope

to establish a breeding colony within 12 months. One of the goals of the

program will be to address some of Nepal's most pressing health concerns,

which include HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis, and malaria.

 

 

 

The study, which was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health,

is detailed in the current issue of the *American Journal of Primatology*.