CNN January 24, 2018 "Monkey see, monkey 2: Scientists clone monkeys using technique that created Dolly the sheep" Jen Christensen This article is about Hua Hua and Zhong Zhong. These are two baby long-tailed macaques who were cloned using somatic cell transfer. They are the first primates to be cloned using this method, however they aren't the first primates to be cloned. Prior to them, 5 sheep were cloned using this method. Scientists finally found a new way to clone nonhuman primates after many failed attempts. The approach they used was based off the approach used to clone Dolly the Sheep in 1996. This technique has to do with reconstructing an unfertilized egg by removing the cells nucleus and then replacing it with the nucleus from another cell. It's then stimulated to develop into an embryo and transplanted into a surrogate mother. Since humans are primates, this brings up ethical questions as this could be theoretically used to clone humans. The scientists had no intention of that and only see a future where this will help them to understand human diseases. This breakthrough was performed in Shanghai, China, where scientists hope to see more labs cloning monkeys in the future. The research for this was published on Wednesday, January 24th, but the scientists had spent three years prior to this perfecting their tweaks on the technique used to transfer the nucleus of the cells. The two monkey babies were born in late 2017. The cloning of these primates were a result of years of cloning research. The first of which related to this started on sheep in 1996. This is when Dolly the Sheep was cloned. After Dolly, 4 more sheep were cloned using the same cluster of cells years later. In 1999 a monkey was successfully cloned, however it was not by using the same technique as the sheep. This technique involved splitting embryos, much like the way twins form naturally. This is considered a simpler form of cloning which produces a much smaller amount of offspring. The research from the sheep was tested and then tweaked with modern technology in order to find a successful way to clone primates using somatic cell transfer. Before this, all attempts to clone primates using SCNT failed. It was believed to be a result of something in their DNA. Several different factors contributed to why they were now able to be cloned. I believe this is a step forward in the right direction in understanding how to treat certain human diseases. I also believe however, that this brings up ethical issues as humans are primates, and this could be used to clone humans. I agree with the article about new laws needed to regulate cloning. I will comment on Noah Godina's and Matthew Mau's blog posts.
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AuthorLeah Maxwell Archives
June 2018
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