For the first time, scientists at the Kunming Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences have discovered monkeys can suffer from Parkinson's disease naturally, which, until now, has only been observed in humans.

The observed monkey showed almost the same clinical symptoms and pathological changes as human patients. In addition, genetic study also suggested the monkey shared gene mutations, which might have contributed to the development of its disease, closely related to humans with Parkinson's disease. The data was published on December 10, 2020, in the journal National Science Review.

This discovery suggests that Parkinson's disease is not unique to humans, and was present in evolution before them. It also has provided a solid biological basis to the development of monkey models of Parkinson's disease, which will be critical for the disease's pathogenesis studies and the development of early protection and effective treatments.