Will Earth become a planet of the apes?

Just one transgenic monkey created by Chinese scientists has to escape from a lab…

If gene-edited babies are not met with cheers of approbation from the world at large, then try modifying the next best creature — the monkey. At least that appears to be the thinking among Chinese scientists who have recently created a transgenic monkey whose DNA has the human gene that is supposedly linked to the development of intelligence. That would seem to the layman — and monkey — to be akin to handing over the key of evolution to the one species that can rival Homo sapiens for, well, world domination. In other words, 'Planet of the Apes, The Revolution Begins'. After all, the 2011 movie, 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'', began with a monkey being genetically modified for research into Alzheimer’s disease. According to an article published in National Science Review a fortnight ago, China has unveiled cloned gene-edited rhesus macaque monkeys precisely for this purpose.

However, a new breed of super monkeys whose brains evolve just like human ones — slower but with faster reaction times and short-term memory — increases the chances of such experiments getting out of hand, therefore becoming more than just a popular cinematic ploy. Of course, it all depends on whether even one such monkey ever escapes from a laboratory to start a simian revolution — appropriately, from China — that could alter the future of our planet.