Animals with human DNA

Animals with human DNA

Researchers can add human genes and tissues to mice

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• 'Better' animal test rules urged

It was one of the great comedy sketch moments from Not the Nine O'Clock News. Mel Smith is a scientist on a talk-show, sitting next to a gorilla (Rowan Atkinson in a costume) and begins explaining how he has taught him to speak.

Smith: "When I caught Gerald in '68 he was completely wild."
Gerald/Atkinson: "Wild. I was absolutely livid."
Funny, yes, and truly far-fetched, but experiments on animals that lead to possible human characteristics are something the Academy of Medical Sciences has spent nearly two years considering.
It looked at the vast and growing area of research involving the insertion of human DNA or cells into animals.
This sort of research has been going on for decades. It can involve a single gene being inserted in a mouse genome, or the transplantation of human cells or tissue into animals, creating what are known as chimaeras.
The point is to study human development and disease - anything from cancer, stroke or dementia to Down's syndrome.
People know that experimentation on animals takes place, but probably very few know much about this area. The academy commissioned a consortium led by the polling organisation Ipsos Mori to look at public opinion.
Great Apes
The public consultation showed strong support as long as people felt it would produce genuine benefits for medicine and that these would be widely available.
Most of this area of research involves mice, but rats, fruit flies and zebra fish are also used.
One of the key areas of potential concern outlined in the report is research involving the brain: "The predominant question is whether populating an animal's brain with human-derived cells could result in the production of an animal with human cognitive capacity" - areas such as consciousness, awareness and sentience and human-like behavioural capabilities.
The academy thinks if human brain stem cells were transplanted into a mouse in the womb, it would still probably end up acting like a mouse. But it is less certain about the potential consequences for a similar experiment with a larger animal, for example a sheep or pig.
Professor Martin Bobrow, who chaired the working group which compiled the report, suggested what he called the "Great Ape test". He said there is a consensus that experiments should not be carried out on Great Apes (chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas). So if experiments to add human material gave a sheep or a pig the same level of cognitive ability as a gorilla, then it should probably not be allowed.
Science fiction
The academy is not suggesting that anyone wants to do this, but it says public discussion should occur now, long before scientists have the idea for unusual experiments.
So what else might make you feel uncomfortable? Animals with human physical features would be a step too far for many - bringing to mind HG Wells science fiction novel The Island of Dr Moreau.
And what about language? The report says: "Creating characteristics such as speech and behaviour in animals would be very complex." Considerable potential benefits would need to be justified before that was allowed.
After all, as one of the report authors said: "If you come home and your parrot says - 'who's a pretty boy?' - that's one thing. If you come home and your monkey says it, that's quite another."

Animal feed news

European Parliament backs return of animal feed protein

//08 jul 2011

Members of the European Parliament have backed plans to allow processed animal protein back into EU animal feed. MEPs voted in favour of the Roth-Behrendt report, which recommends allowing pigs to be fed poultry protein and poultry to be fed pig protein.

The Commission's TSE Roadmap 2 proposes a possible gradual lifting of the prohibition on the feeding of processed animal proteins (PAP) to non-ruminants.

Given the EU's "protein deficit", MEPs back this idea, subject to strict conditions and safeguards. These include stipulating that the PAP must come from species not linked to TSE, and may be fed only to non-herbivores.

Prohibitions on cannibalism must remain and only processed animal proteins fit for human consumption should be used, MEPs add.

Further relaxations

The report recommends a number of relaxations to BSE rules to reflect the declining risk posed by the disease, although it stresses that any changes must maintain high animal and public health standards.

Apart from the relaxation of the animal protein feed ban item, changes to current EU laws, which the Commission is about to review, could also include new rules on removing specific risk materials from animal feed, changes to cohort culling policy and a higher age limit for BSE testing, says the non-legislative resolution, drafted by Dagmar Roth Behrendt.

MEPs reject a Commission proposal to reduce EU funding on research into transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), including BSE.

TSEs cause degeneration of brain tissue leading to death in man and animals. They include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and Kuru in humans, bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle and scrapie in sheep and goats

wild Iberian lynx

illermo Lopez 

 on the hunt for a glimpse of a wild Iberian lynx

It appears out of nowhere, stealthily slinking into view and well camouflaged against the dry Mediterranean backdrop.

We have been waiting in a cramped hide since the crack of dawn. And having been told that the chance of getting a glimpse of one of these beasts is vanishingly small, we have almost given up hope.

But suddenly, there it is: the most endangered cat on the planet, the Iberian lynx.
For just a second, it stops, staring at us with its kohl-rimmed, yellow eyes.
It is about a metre long, with a short, sand-coloured coat and leopard-like spots; it has large paws and a short, bobbed tail.
Then, distracted by a rustle in the grass, its huge black-tufted ears twitch. It crouches, pounces, and emerges back into sight a second later with a rabbit dangling from its mouth.
And, as quickly as it appeared, it is gone, blending back into the forest with its prized meal.

The Iberian lynx has suffered a catastrophic drop in numbers

We are in Andujar, in Andalucia, Spain, which along with the Donana National Park, just south of Seville, is one of the last isolated pockets where the Iberian lynx can be seen.
This cat was once common across the whole of the Iberian peninsula, but from the 1960s its numbers plummeted, dropping from an estimated 3,000 to approximately 150 in 2005.

Habitat loss, poaching and road accidents all helped to push this cat to the brink of extinction. Disease outbreaks in the cat's main food source - wild rabbits - have added to the woe.

In the past decade, frantic efforts have been under way to conserve the last few cats.
Some of these approaches have been quite straightforward, such as implementing supplementary feeding stations that are used to boost the cat's diet when rabbit numbers are low - like the spot where we had been lucky enough to spy our wild lynx that morning.

Taking some wild lynx into captivity was a tough decision

But conservationists have had to get radical, too.
In La Olivilla, in Jaen, some lynx have been taken from the wild and placed in captivity with one key purpose: to breed.
Mariajo Perez, who runs the centre, tells me that this is not something that conservationists do lightly. But the situation was so bad, they were left with little choice.
She says: "It's worked really well so far. Our cats have been breeding really successfully - we have had eight cubs this year."
There are now about 40 cats in the centre, and other captive breeding centres in Andalucia have also managed to give a much needed boost to lynx numbers.
But the next challenge is to release the cats back into the wild, which could start next year.
Guillermo Lopez, from the Lynx Life project, knows all about moving animals.
He and his colleagues have been relocating some of the wild cats from the Andujar region to another carefully selected site some kilometres away, in the hope of establishing a new population.
He says: "So far, we have released six individuals - three males and three females. One of the females has had two cubs, so we feel very optimistic."

The team has been looking for new sites for the lynx - but could they move even farther afield in the future?

Moving animals from one place to another - or translocation - is becoming an increasingly common weapon in the conservationists' fight against extinction.
It helps to build up new populations and to ensure genetic diversity among ever shrinking groups of animals.
But scientists are now considering a much more controversial measure, which could one day mean that animals like the Iberian lynx are moved even farther afield.

“Start Quote

It is worth at least considering whether the Iberian lynx - this truly endangered species - could in the future find a home in, say, the British Isles”

End Quote Professor Chris Thomas University of York

Chris Thomas, professor of conservation biology at the University of York, UK, says: "The problem is that as the climate changes, the places that are best to put such endangered species back are not necessarily the same places where they historically used to occur."

He says that a changing climate will mean that some species will not be able to adapt or perhaps, due to geographical barriers, migrate to a new, more suitable home.
So instead, scientists will do it for them: literally pack up whole populations of species to shift them elsewhere. It is an idea called assisted migration (or assisted colonisation).
And it has many critics. Intentionally creating invasive and therefore potentially problematic species goes against just about every conservation convention. But the idea has been gaining momentum among some.
Prof Thomas says: "When I first heard about this, my immediate reaction was that this is crazy.
"But if we have a large number of species, potentially thousands, even hundreds of thousands, that are going to die out from climate change, we should at least ask the question: 'Is there anywhere else on Earth that they don't currently live in where they could in the future survive?'"

Things are looking up for the Iberian lynx

So far, examples of assisted migration have been few, but include a study that revealed the small skipper and marbled white butterflies did well when moved further north in the UK.
But Prof Thomas argues that we must at least start thinking about the feasibility of these kinds of moves - even when it comes to animals like the Iberian lynx.
He explains: "It is worth at least considering whether the Iberian lynx - this truly endangered species - could in the future find a home in, say, the British Isles.
"Of course, the answer might be that this wouldn't work. But we should contemplate such things given that the climate is changing, and the best places for a species are now on the move."
No place like home
For now, at least, efforts to save the Iberian lynx look set to remain focused in its home domain.
And scientists are optimistic about its future. Since 2005, numbers of wild lynx have steadily grown to around 300.
Miguel Simon, director of the Lynx Life project, says: "In the 10 years that we have been working on its conservation, the population in the Sierra Morena has doubled, and there has been a 50% increase in Donana."
The next step is to create three more populations in Portugal and Spain, at which point the cat would no longer be classed as critically endangered.
And with this, Dr Simon says, this magnificent Mediterranean cat could finally lose its unfortunate claim to fame as the world's rarest feline, and instead become a symbol of conservation success.

Elephants last performed 10 years ago in a UK circus

Elephants last performed 10 years ago in a UK circus
A circus is being criticised by the RSPCA for using elephants in its show.
The animal charity said the debut of three elephants at a circus in Nottinghamshire on Friday was a "body blow for animal welfare".
It has called on the government to ban wild animals from circuses and urged people to consider the "ethical issues involved" before visiting the show.
The "European elephant act" at the Great British Circus in Newark will be the first in the UK for over 10 years.
Circuses had stopped using elephants after pressure from animal rights campaigners.

Asking these majestic animals to behave in unnatural ways in the name of entertainment is a disgrace
Dr Rob Atkinson, RSPCA
The RSPCA's wildlife department head Dr Rob Atkinson said: "This is a body blow for animal welfare in this country.
"I am sure this news will shock and sadden the public which has consistently shown its opposition to the use of wild animals in circuses."
He said the RSPCA did not believe wild animals' needs could ever be met in circuses adding that confinement, constant transportation, abnormal social groups and inadequate winter quarters all caused suffering.
'Care and attention'
"Asking these majestic animals to behave in unnatural ways in the name of entertainment is a disgrace - a disgrace which is already banned in several other European countries", Dr Atkinson added.
"There is absolutely no similarity between the lives of wild elephants and those of these circus captives," he said.
An African and two Asian elephants are due to perform at the show.
According to the Great British Circus website, director Martin Lacey "always insists his animals receive the best possible care and attention".
On the website, Mr Lacey said: "Our African elephant is called Sonja and her mother was shot in an elephant cull.
"Together with the two Asian elephants, Delhi and Vana Mana, they are great ambassadors for the species, entertaining and educating the public within the care and security of the circus to protect them."