Pig models at a laboratory in Guangzhou

GUANGZHOU, March 31, 2018 (Xinhua) — In this photo handed out by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, researchers hold Huntington’s disease pig models at a laboratory in Guangzhou, south China’s Guangdong Province, March 28, 2018. A Chinese team of scientists has established a pig model of Huntington’s disease (HD), an inherited neurodegenerative disease, using genetic engineering technology. In a study published in “Cell” on Thursday, researchers anticipated that the pigs could be a practical way to test treatments for HD, which is caused by a gene encoding a toxic protein that causes brain cells to die. (Xinhua) (lmm)