DEVELOPMENT OF MONKEYS PRODUCED BY EMBRYO SPLITTING & SPERM INJECTION

这个子项目是利用由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和调查员(PI)可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可能会出现在其他CRISE条目中。列出的机构是针对中心的，而不一定是针对调查员的机构。在实验上研究现在或未来发现的基因功能的进展主要取决于是否有合适的动物模型。同样，学习如何操纵基因来改变解剖学、生理学或行为，并确定这些操纵在灵长类动物(包括人类)中的安全性，取决于适当的动物模型。解决这些问题的一个重要方法是控制和操纵同卵双胞胎的基因，他们在受孕时拥有相同的基因组。最近，一种将灵长类动物的4-8细胞胚胎(桑囊期)分裂成单个细胞的方法被开发出来。这些细胞被植入代孕母亲体内，代孕母亲将单个胎儿怀有足月。代孕母亲可能是也可能不是真正的生母。如果有适当的实验技术，这些同卵双胞胎可以作为对照和实验对象，在研究中操纵几乎任何方面的基因组，母亲，胎儿环境，受试者的解剖和生理，和/或出生后环境。这些使用胚胎分裂双胞胎的潜在模型的实用性在很大程度上取决于双胞胎在解剖、生长、生理和行为方面的确切相似程度。这项研究的两个主要目的是(1)确定猕猴受试者在广泛的生长、生理和行为特征上的双胞胎相似程度，以及(2)确定胚胎分裂和代孕过程是否在这些特征上产生任何异常。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Progress in experimentally studying the functions of genes discovered now or in the future depends primarily on having appropriate animal models. Similarly, learning how to manipulate genes to alter anatomy, physiology, or behavior, and determining the safety of these manipulations in primates, including humans, depends on appropriate animal models. An important approach to these issues concerns controlling and manipulating the genes of identical twins, who at conception have an identical genome. Recently, a procedure has been developed in which the 4-8 cell embryo of primates (morula stage) is split into individual cells. These cells are implanted into surrogate mothers, who carry a single fetus to term. The surrogate mother may or may not be the actual biological mother. Given appropriate experimental techniques, these identical twin fetuses can serve as control and experimental subjects in studies manipulating almost any aspect of the genome, the mother, the fetal environment, the subject's anatomy and physiology, and/or the postnatal environment. The utility of these potential models using embryo split twins depends largely on exactly how similar the twins are in their anatomy, growth, physiology, and behavior. The two major purposes of this research are (1) to determine the degree of twin similarity in macaque monkey subjects across a wide range of growth, physiological, and behavioral characteristics, and (2) determine whether the embryo splitting and surrogate mothering procedure produces any abnormalities in these characteristics.