Word: simian
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...produced color vision in squirrel monkeys, which are normally born colorblind. Using a tiny syringe, researchers injected the single missing gene for color vision into the monkeys' eyes. The result was clear: monkeys that previously could not distinguish red, green and gray were easily able to pass a simian equivalent of a color-detection test. (See the top 10 medical breakthroughs...
...Medical Center, were just beginning. On Oct. 26, 1984, Bailey had stitched a walnut-sized baboon heart into Stephanie Fae Beauclair's tiny chest, making her the first infant to receive a cross-species heart transplant. Amid protests from animal-rights activists, Americans hung on every thump of her simian heart for three short weeks. When her weakened body went into kidney failure and finally gave out, Bailey vowed to try again. "We are remarkably encouraged by what we have learned from Baby Fae," he said. (From the archive: read TIME's 1984 story on Baby Fae's death...
...Across America, 15,000 primates serve human masters as exotic pets. Only 20 states prohibit the practice, and there is no federal law against it. Given that primates often live beyond 50 years of age, many of these simian pets will be resold repeatedly, journeying in airplane holds across the country to enter new and unfamiliar homes...
...should be asked of these big earners, says the Wall Street vet, is this: What is your alpha relative to a monkey? Alpha refers to the measure by which you beat the expected return. In other words, how much better could you do in the job than an average simian that is plopped in the chair? What's your alpha-monkey ratio...
...times ego gets the better of Cheeta, who sees himself as the "true pioneer of simian thespianism." He dismisses King Kong's contributions in a few words of faint praise and neglects to acknowledge the numerous other stand-in "Cheetas" in the Tarzan movies. He's less than forthright about the biting incidents that were said to have ended his Hollywood career. And his drinking habits can't have helped either - only the onset of diabetes forced him to become a teetotaler, albeit an unrepentant one: "There's a little more dignity in sharing a couple of cocktails, some caviar...