Date: June 7, 2017
Source: Stanford University
Medical Center
The mouse lemur -- the world's
smallest primate -- has the potential to transform the field of genetics and
serve as an ideal model for a wide range of primate biology, behavior and
medicine, including cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease, Stanford
University School of Medicine researchers say.
For decades, scientists have
relied on mice, fruit flies and worms as genetic models, but despite all their
success, these organisms routinely fail to mimic many aspects of primate
biology, including many human diseases, said Mark Krasnow, MD, PhD, professor
of biochemistry.
Frustrated by the lack of a good
study model, Krasnow and his colleagues turned to the mouse lemur and began
conducting detailed physiologic and genetic studies on hundreds of these
petite, docile creatures in the rainforests of Madagascar.
Working in a Stanford-funded lab
on the island country, the scientists report that they already have identified
more than 20 individual lemurs with unique genetic traits, including obesity,
high cholesterol, high blood sugar, cardiac arrhythmias, progressive eye
disease and motor and personality disorders. Their hope is that continued study
of these abundant primates could lead to a better understanding, and possibly
better treatments, of these and other conditions in lemurs and humans.
'Huge potential'
"I think mouse lemurs have
great potential for our understanding of primate biology, behavior and
conservation, in the same way that fruit flies and mice over the last 30 or 40
years have transformed our understanding of developmental biology and many
other areas of biology and medicine," Krasnow said. "Some of the most
fascinating and important questions that need to be answered are
primate-specific. For those, we really need something besides humans to
complement the work that has been done in fruit flies and mice."
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