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Enzo Therapeutics of Farmingdale, New York, has filed a very broad patent on
the idea of using treeshrews instead of chimpanzees in medical testing (EP
1068799). The firm says that studies of HIV and human lymphotrophic T-cell
leukaemia have so far relied on chimps because they are the only animal that
develops similar symptoms to humans. They are also an endangered species and
very expensive to breed, says Enzo. But it says the treeshrew Tupaia
belangeri, which is found over a large area of Asia, is a much better model
for human diseases than chimps and has a shorter lifespan, so they can easily be
bred in large numbers.