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
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