New primate model for Huntington’s will help researchers

In a first, researchers have developed a primate model for Huntington's disease, eliciting harsh criticism from animal rights experts even as it paves the way for future primate models for a host of degenerative brain disorders. Five rhesus macaque monkeys now produce the rogue protein that leads to Huntington's. And the researchers say the work should help significantly advance work on a cure.

Mice have been used in neurodegenerative research, but don't demonstrate the same kind of symptoms that scientists look for. With the engineered monkeys, researchers will be able to get a much better understanding of the disease and better ways it can be treated in humans.

- read the story from New Scientist

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