Macaqui Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua. Photo by Chinese Academy of Sciences / New Scientist
According to scientists, cloned animals develop without deviations.
Molecular biologists from China for the first time received two monkeys Zhongzhong and Huahua, using the same technique that was used when cloning the Dolly sheep. This is reported by the journal Cell.
Dolly's lamb was cloned in 1996 by the transfer of genetic information taken from the non-full cell to the egg. After that, scientists also cloned mice, pigs, cows and dogs, but could not put an experiment with primates.
In 2003, scientists at the University of Pittsburgh could not create any clone of primates from 716 eggs, and suggested that this method is not suitable for this unit. As the New Scientist writes, in 2000 scientists were able to clone monkeys for the first time, but used another method for this - the fertilized embryo was divided into several parts, which resulted in the birth of genetically identical monkeys. This method is suitable for the creation of only four animals.
This time, the specialists used the technique that cloned the Dolly lamb to create a "theoretically infinite number of clones". Using a somatic nuclear cell transfer, scientists extracted the nucleus from the donor cell and replaced it with the cage of another animal. To "deceive" the egg, scientists used the current - then the cell "thought" that it was fertilized, and began to produce an embryo.
After implantation into the uterus of the surrogate mother, the embryo will grow into a copy of the animal that provided the nucleus. In addition, scientists also added matrix RNA and trichostatin A, which allowed to awaken at least 2,000 genes required at different stages of embryo development.
Scientists noted that monkeys have normal body temperature, sucking reflexes during feeding, and there are no deviations in development, weight and girth of the head.
As Time writes, the method is still inefficient - scientists had to use 127 eggs to get two monkeys. They also could not clone an adult monkey. Dolly became a sensation, as this is the first animal cloned from an adult sheep, the publication noted.
Director of the Center for Primate Studies at the Institute of Neurophysiology in Shanghai Qiang Sun said that the cloning of monkeys gives scientists new opportunities.
Now it is possible to grow primates with an absolutely identical set of genes, with the exception of one DNA site whose structure we have changed. This will help reveal the essence of many genetic diseases and find new ways to combat cancer and immune disorders.Qiang Sun Director of the Center for the Study of Primates
As noted by the publication New Scientist, the scientific discovery will "strengthen fears" that soon scientists will find a way to clone a person. Jose Kibelli, a scientist at the University of Michigan, told Time that it could be technically possible, but "criminal" because of the many unsuccessful pregnancies. According to him, society can face a "great ethical dilemma" when applying technology to people.
