South Korea recently opened a new research lab specializing in primates, which will help local scientists develop new medicines.<br />Cho Sung-min reports. <br />South Korea has a new primate research center located in Jeollabuk-do Province.<br />The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, which runs the center, says its the nation's biggest facility of its kind... and can support up to three-thousand monkeys.<br /><br />The primates are used for various clinical tests,... since nearly ninety-four percent of their DNA structure matches that of humans.<br />That said, tests involving monkeys have resulted in some groundbreaking medical discoveries in the past... and contributed to the development of treatments for various diseases.<br /><br />Until now, South Korea has had to buy monkeys from abroad for research -- at least 650 of them every year.<br />But the new facility makes it possible for the country to supply its own.<br /><br /><br />"This facility is built to provide monkeys for various tests conducted by local researchers. It's is also responsible for the raising of monkeys in case there's a need to export them in the future."<br /><br />The center said it will contribute to the discovery of new medicines for illnesses for which there's still no cure.<br />It also said they're trying to have at least one-thousand monkeys there by the end of this year... and in the long term, about three-thousand by 2025.<br />Cho Sung-min, Arirang News. <br />
