Monkeying around on the tree of life

While the Bible teaches that God designed humans—and only humans—in His image, evolutionary scientists continue to try to explain the origin of humans’ superior intellect when compared to primates. Researchers at Kent State University now think the answer might lie in differences in brain chemicals.

For their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers analyzed brain samples from humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, baboons, and monkeys. They found marked differences in brain chemicals in the striatum, a brain region involved in social behaviors. According to their findings, human brains produce increased dopamine levels that contribute to uniquely human abilities such as complicated social group formation, speech, and language. Human, gorilla, and chimpanzee brains showed elevated serotonin, which increases cognitive and social control, but acetylcholine levels, which contribute to aggression, appeared at lower levels in the human brain, Scientific American reported.

The researchers said natural selection shaped the human brain’s neurochemical profile, helping us to survive and outcompete with “other apes” and early hominids, numerous humanlike species they say arose after humans split with chimpanzees. But this new research still does not explain why, if the superior intellect and emotional and behavioral complexity of humans made us more fit for survival, natural selection didn’t cause any other species to evolve with the same capabilities.

Elizabeth Mitchell, a physician and a writer for Answers in Genesis, said the biochemical similarities among humans, apes, and monkeys show not common descent from a single ancestor—a concept Charles Darwin called the “tree of life”—but common design by a Creator. God used similar genetic building blocks to produce features needed in similar organisms and equipped each with the DNA information to reproduce after its kind, she wrote on the organization’s blog.

Reducing humans to just one more monkey on the tree will never explain the spiritual nature that only humans possess. “Ancestral biology cannot explain the origin of the information for physical and mental differences, much less the spiritual differences,” Mitchell said. “But the Bible does.”

More monkey business: Are humans next up for cloning?

Chinese scientists last week announced they successfully cloned a monkey using the same technique that produced the world’s first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep, more than two decades ago. The study represents the first time scientists successfully cloned nonhuman primates, causing many to fear human cloning lurks around the corner.

Since Dolly, scientists have successfully cloned 23 mammals, including dogs, cats, and horses, but nonhuman primate embryos always failed to mature into healthy animals—until now.

The researchers admitted the technology could apply to humans, but they doubt that will happen. “I would think society and the general public and governments will not allow extension of this method from nonhuman primates to humans,” researcher Muming Poo said.

But Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a member of WORLD News Group’s board of directors, noted, “That is just the kind of language you should expect to hear from people who will announce next that this is exactly the kind of technology they are applying to humans.” This research moves us one step closer to cloned human beings, and it won’t stop with China, he said on an episode of his podcast, The Briefing, last week.

The cloning of humans would raise all sorts of ethical and theological questions. Would human clones be granted rights as fully independent persons? Would they be used for experimentation or as a supply of body parts? Would they have a soul?

The most horrifying aspect human cloning poses, Ann Gauger, zoologist and Biologic Institute researcher, wrote on the Discovery Institute blog, “would be that clones might be considered utilitarian objects, for use by the ‘owner’ as he or she wills, as a means of extending life or achieving immortality, or to replace a dead child. … Clones might be viewed as replaceable, easily cast away once their use is fulfilled.” —J.B.

Brain implants offer targeted drug delivery

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers developed a tiny implant, as small as 1 cubic millimeter, that can deliver drugs to specific areas deep in the brain. Medications to treat brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and depression, delivered orally or by IV, can affect many areas of the brain and cause unwanted side effects, but the implant gives doctors precise control of drug delivery.

“One of the problems with central nervous system drugs is that they’re not specific, and if you’re taking them orally they go everywhere,” said Michael Cima, senior author of the research, in a statement. The implant consists of several tubes inside a needle as thin as a human hair. It can deliver more than one drug at a time, and physicians can connect it to a small pump under the patient’s skin. Doctors can also place an electrode in the tip of the tubes to monitor changes in brain activity after drug treatment.

Regulatory guidelines require additional animal testing before human trials can begin. —J.B.

Measles epidemic in Italy stirs vaccine debate

Measles cases once again soared in Italy last year, and two Italian populist parties, running in a general election scheduled for March 4, advocate scrapping the country’s compulsory vaccination law. The law, which took effect six months ago, mandates that children without vaccinations for measles and nine other diseases cannot enroll in public day care or kindergarten, and their parents can face stiff fines.

Measles sickened 5,000 people in Italy last year, six times as many as in 2016, and claimed the lives of four. Records document 844 cases of measles in 2016, up from 251 in 2015.

Northern League leader Matteo Salvini told reporters that even though he vaccinated his children, he believes in parental choice regarding immunizations. Italy’s ruling Democratic Party leader, Matteo Renzi, said protecting the well-being of children through vaccinations should eclipse politics. “The health of our children is at stake, not an extra percentage point at the polls,” he said. —J.B.

Another encouraging stem cell breakthrough

Researchers at the Gladstone Institutes discovered a way to use the popular CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool to turn mouse skin cells into stem cells by activating a specific gene. Scientists have turned skin cells into stem cells before, but this study represents the first time they used CRISPR. The new technique may offer a simpler method for producing stem cells and one more way to make them without killing human embryos.

The value of stem cells lies in their ability to turn into virtually any cell type in the body. They may offer many therapeutic possibilities for conditions such as heart failure and Parkinson’s disease, and provide opportunities for researchers to study diseases and to test new drugs on human cells. According to the study, researchers might use the new technique to produce stem cells that can turn into any other cell type or to directly reprogram skin cells into other cell types, such as heart or brain cells. —J.B.