'Immortal' Line of Cloned Mice Created
- 11 years ago
An immortal line of cloned mice is created.
Scientists in Japan have successfully cloned 581 mice from one donor mouse, claiming that they have found a way to create an indefinite number of mice and other animals.
They consecutively cloned the mouse and then made clones of those clones 25 times over.
The team of scientists headed by Teruhiko Wakayama of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan used a new technique that is more efficient and has a much higher rate of success than other cloning methods.
No genetic abnormalities or mutations accumulated from repeated cloning and all 581 mice were healthy, fertile and lived a normal life span of around two years.
The authors of the study wrote: the “results show that repeated iterative recloning is possible and suggest that, with adequately efficient techniques, it may be possible to reclone animals indefinitely.”
Cloning uses a technique known as somatic cell nuclear transfer.
Consecutive generations of clones have failed in the past due to genetic abnormalities, which become a problem after two to six consecutive rounds of cloning.
Scientists in Japan have successfully cloned 581 mice from one donor mouse, claiming that they have found a way to create an indefinite number of mice and other animals.
They consecutively cloned the mouse and then made clones of those clones 25 times over.
The team of scientists headed by Teruhiko Wakayama of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan used a new technique that is more efficient and has a much higher rate of success than other cloning methods.
No genetic abnormalities or mutations accumulated from repeated cloning and all 581 mice were healthy, fertile and lived a normal life span of around two years.
The authors of the study wrote: the “results show that repeated iterative recloning is possible and suggest that, with adequately efficient techniques, it may be possible to reclone animals indefinitely.”
Cloning uses a technique known as somatic cell nuclear transfer.
Consecutive generations of clones have failed in the past due to genetic abnormalities, which become a problem after two to six consecutive rounds of cloning.