First primate clones

Chinese scientists have produced two genetically identical long-tailed macaques using the same technique that gave us Dolly the sheep, the world’s first cloned mammal. The feat is a first for nonhuman primates, and despite limitations, it could lead to batches of genetically uniform monkeys for biomedical research.

Previous attempts to clone monkeys through the Dolly method, known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), produced viable embryos but they failed to mature into healthy animals. The technique starts with taking the nucleus of a cell from a tissue like skin, and inserting it into an animal egg that has had its own DNA-carrying nucleus removed. That combination is then treated with enzymes that return it to an early embryonic state from which it can differentiate into every cell type in the body, like a just-fertilized egg. The egg is then implanted in a surrogate mother for development. Read more.

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Scientists Successfully Clone Monkeys

... But until now, no one has been able to clone primates, such as monkeys, apes, and humans. This achievement means that science is one step closer to being able to clone people — something that is generally opposed in the medical community because of obvious ethical concerns. Read more.

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Human-chimp hybrids ARE possible and should be created to teach people how to respect animals, claims controversial psychologist

Our future offspring may be part-human, part-chimp.

At least that's the nightmarish vision of self-proclaimed expert, David Barash, a professor of psychology emeritus at the University of Washington.

Dr Barash says that not only is the creation of 'humanzees' possible using gene editing, but producing such creatures would be a 'terrific idea'. Read more.