Scientists in China have recorded the first-ever live birth of a chimeric monkey using stem cells, with the baby simian sporting bright green eyes and fingertips, according to a new study.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences published their findings in Cell Thursday, noting that the monkey was created from two genetically distinct embryos of Cynomolgus monkeys, also known as crab-eating macaques.

The researchers had laced the test subjects with a fluorescence green protein to highlight which tissues had grown specifically from the stem cells gathered from 7-day-old embryos.

The result was the baby monkey’s fluorescent green eyes and fingers. The scientists touted it as the world’s first live birth of a primate chimera using stem cells.

The monkey, unfortunately, lived for only 10 days before being euthanized.

Zhen Liu, the senior author of the study, said the monkey’s successful birth has great implications for stem cell research involving other primates, including humans.

“Specifically, this work could help us to generate more precise monkey models for studying neurological diseases as well as for other biomedicine studies.”

Liu added that the research presents implications for more accurate genetic engineering and species conservation among primates.

“Monkey chimeras also have potential enormous value for species conservation if they could be achieved between two types of nonhuman primate species, one of which is endangered,” Miguel Esteban, principal investigator at the Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health and researcher in the study, told CNN.

“If there is contribution of the donor cells from the endangered species to the germ line, one could envisage that through breeding animals of these species could be produced.”

Following their success, scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences said they hope to study how embryos survive during pregnancy and find ways to improve their line of chimera monkeys.

During their work, the researchers recorded 12 pregnancies among the female macaques, with six live births following.

The baby monkey highlighted in the project was the only one to feature the desired traits, with the only other chimeric simian dying as a fetus due to a miscarriage.

Culled from New York Post