macaque monkey

In a procedure that's sure to lead to plenty of interesting family dinners, scientists have created monkeys that have one father, but two genetic mothers. The scientists created these hybrids by transplanting mitochondrial DNA into the monkey embryo, opening up the possibility that this technique could be used to produce healthy children for human women who have mitochondrial DNA disorders.

Something incredible is happening in a lab at Duke University’s Center for Neuroengineering—though, at first, it’s hard to see just what it is. A robot arm swings from side to side, eerily lifelike, as if it were trying to snatch invisible flies out of the air. It pivots around and straightens as it extends its mechanical hand. The hand clamp shuts and squeezes for a few seconds, then relaxes its grip and pulls back to shoot out again in a new direction.