Cloning animals

Complex biotechnological procedures have enabled scientists to successfully clone mice, sheep, cows and other mammals. The technology is still at early stages and currently, one in three cloned animals is born abnormally large or with other developmental problems. Scientists at the Monash Institute of Reproduction and Development in Melbourne believe these problems could be linked to a process called gene 'imprinting'. Embryos contain two copies of each gene one from each parent. It is thought that about 60 genes are imprinted' with instructions to switch one copy on or off to allow for normal growth and development. If this doesnt happen correctly and both copies are switched on, or both copies are switched off, it results in problems in growth and development, both prenatal and postnatal. We do not understand this imprinting process in cloned embryos. The closest scientists have come to cloning a non-human primate occurred in October 2004. Biologists successfully transferred cloned monkey embryos into monkey mothers. None of the resulting pregnancies lasted more than a month. Did you know ferrets are the most recent animals to be cloned? The researchers say that the domestic ferret is an ideal animal model to study human diseases such as influenza and cystic fibrosis. The ferrets were cloned in 2006.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer

Roslin Institute, Edinburgh Dolly, the first animal to be cloned, was created using the technique of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).

To do this, cells are taken from the animal that is going to be cloned. In the case of Dolly the sheep, a cell was taken from normal body cells somatic cells - in her udder. The nucleus of these cells was removed. Becasue the nucleus contains all of the genetic material to make the animal, it is termed the donor cell. Egg cells are used for cloning because of their ability to grow rapidly. The egg cells nucleus is removed and the nucleus from the donor cell is inserted in its place.

The egg is then exposed to numerous stimulants which activate the reconstructed embryo, making it divide and grow. The division of the egg cell follows the same process that would occur if the egg was fertilised by sperm during natural reproduction. The cell division continues for 5 days until a blastomere forms. A blastomere is a ball of nearly 100 cells all with the same genetic material as the donor. Once a cloned embryo reaches the blastomere stage of development, it can follow two paths. It can be used as a source of stem cells, or it can be implanted into a uterus of a female to create a whole organism. This is called reproductive cloning. When Dolly was born, she was the only lamb born from 277 attempts. She was a clone of the sheep whose udder cell was used.

You can read more about cloning in the Human Uses chapter. Try cloning your favourite dog - interactive Did you know that dogs are particularly difficult to clone? The first cloned dog, an Afghan hound called Snuppy, was cloned by South Korean researchers and was shown to the world in August 2005. Or, try bringing the Tasmanian tiger back by cloning - interactive

Embryo splitting

University of Idaho, Phil Schofield 2003 Embryo splitting is another cloning technique. Using microsurgery (surgery conducted under a microscope), an embryo is split while it still consists of only a few cells. Genetically identical individuals develop from each portion in the same way that identical twins are formed in nature. This technique has been used to successfully clone embryos and animals.

Chromatin transfer
There are a number of problems associated with nuclear transfer - the method used to clone Dolly, and almost all other cloned animals since then. When the nucleus is transferred to a new egg cell, the egg reprograms the incoming nucleus to allow it to go back to its undifferentiated state. Because it has come from an adult cell, it no longer needs to produce the proteins, hormones and other molecules associated with it being an embryo and growing to produce all the different tissues in a whole body.

Victor Fisher, Genetic Savings and Clone Incomplete reprogramming of the donor cell is thought to be a leading factor in the low success rate of animal cloning.

Chromatin transfer is a new cloning technique aimed at reducing these problems. It involves treating the cell of the animal to be cloned, to remove molecules associated with cell differentiation before the nucleus is removed. This is method was created by Genetic Savings and Clone, a company in the USA that used to clone pets. More information on cloning is found in the Human Uses chapter.

This is a list of animals that have been cloned in alphabetical order. One significant aspect of this list is documenting the transition from early concerns that animal cloning procedures might be limited to a few species, that cloned animals might be physiologically abnormal, or cloning might lack utility for society.

Contents

1 Camel 2 Carp 3 Cat 4 Cattle 5 Deer 6 Dog 7 Ferret 8 Frog (tadpole) 9 Fruit Flies 10 Gaur 11 Goat 12 Mice 13 Mouflon 14 Mule 15 Pig 16 Pyrenean ibex 17 Rabbit 18 Rat 19 Rhesus Monkey 20 Sheep 21 Water Buffalo 22 Wolf 23 References

Camel

Injaz rabic , meaning "achievement"; born April 8, 2009[1]) is a female dromedary camel, credited with being the world's first cloned

camel.Dr.NisarAhmadWani,whoheaded the research team in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, announced on April 14, 2009, that the cloned camel was born after an "uncomplicated" gestation of 378 days.

Carp
Chinese embryologist Tong Dizhou successfully inserted the DNA from a male Asian carp into the egg of a female Asian carp to create the first fish clone in 1963. In 1973 Dizhou inserted Asian carp DNA into a European crucian carp to create the first interspecies clone.[1]

Cat

In December 2001, scientists at Texas A&M University created the first cloned cat, CC (CopyCat).[2] Even though CC is an exact copy of his host, they have different personalities; i.e. CC is shy and timid, his host on the other hand is playful and curious. In 2004, the first commercially cloned cat, Little Nicky, was created by Genetic Savings & Clone.[3]

Cattle

First World cloned calf (Gene) was born on February 7, 1997 on American Breeders Service facilities in Deforest, Wisconsin. Later it was transferred and kept to Minnesota Zoo Education Center.[4] A Holstein heifer named Amy was cloned by Dr. Xiangzhong (Jerry) Yang using ear skin cells from a high-merit cow named Aspen at the University of Connecticut on June 10, 1999, followed by three additional clones, Betty, Cathy and Daisy by July 7, 1999.[5] Second Chance, a Brahman bull was cloned from Chance, a beloved celebrity bull. Second Chance was born August 9, 1999 at Texas A&M University.[6] Texas A&M University cloned a Black Angus bull named 86 Squared in 2000, after cells from his donor, Bull 86, had been frozen for 15 years. Both bulls exhibit a natural resistance to Brucellosis, Tuberculosis and other diseases which can be transferred in meat.[7][8] Millie and Emma were two female Jersey cows cloned at the University of Tennessee in 2001. They were the first cows to be produced using standard cell-culturing techniques. Pampa the first animal cloned in Argentina by Biosidus (2002) Ten more Jersey cows were cloned at the University of Tennessee. (females, 2002) Bonyana and Tamina cloned calf in Royan Research Institute, Isfahan, Iran in summer of 2009.[9] In 2010 the first Spanish Fighting Bull was cloned by Spanish scientists.[10] -- see also Got (bull) (2009). Anatolian Grey bull (Efe) was cloned in Turkey in 2009 and cattle from the same breed no(Ece, Ecem, Nilufer, Kiraz) by TUBITAK[11] GARIMA- I world's first buffalo calf through the Hand guided Cloning Technique was born on February 6, 2009 at NDRI, Karnal(India).

GARIMA- II: NDRI, Karnal(India). Cloned male buffalo calf Shresth born on August 26, 2010 atNational Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, India-132001

Deer

Dewey was born on May 23, 2003 at Texas A&M University.[12]

Dog

South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-Suk cloned the first dog, an afghan hound named Snuppy. Later in 2005 Hwang Woo-Suk was found to have fabricated evidence in stem cell research projects. This caused some to question the veracity of his other experiments, including Snuppy. In their investigation of Hwang Woo-Suk's publication, however, a team from SNU confirmed that Snuppy was a true clone of Tei, the DNA donor dog.[13] South Korean scientists recently cloned 'sniffer' dogs.[14] BioArts International held a dog cloning contest where people would send in submissions about which dog was the most suited to be cloned. The winner was Trakr, a K-9 police dog who was a 9/11 hero. In summer 2011, South Korean researchers cloned a beagle dog named Tegon, which glowed in ultraviolet light[15][16][17]

Ferret
Clones Libby and Lilly were produced via nuclear transfer by cell fusion in 2004.[18][19]

Frog (tadpole)
In 1958, John Gurdon, then at Oxford University, explained that he had successfully cloned a frog. He did this by using intact nuclei from somatic cells from a Xenopus tadpole.[20] This was an important extension of work of Briggs and King in 1952 on transplanting nuclei from embryonic blastula cells[21]

Fruit Flies

(2004)[18]

Gaur
A species of wild cattle, the first endangered species to be cloned. In 2001 at the Trans Ova Genetics in Sioux Center, Iowa, USA, a cloned Gaur was born from a surrogate domestic cow mother. However, the calf died within 48 hours.[22]

Goat

Downen TX 63 684 (nicknamed Megan) was cloned from a top producing Boer goat born on March 29, 2001 at Plainwell, MI.[23] The Middle East's first and the world's fifth cloned goat, 'Hanna', has been successfully born at Royan institute in Isfahan, Iran. The cloned goat was developed in the surrogate uterus of a black Bakhtiari goat for 147 days and was born, Wednesday, at 1:30 a.m. through a cesarean section. She is reported to be in a good health. Hanna, also known as R-CAP-C1, is completely distinguished from other goats because of its white and hennalike color. Iran's first cloned lamb, Royana, was born September 30, 2006 in Royan institute and was able to survive the post-natal complications common in cloned animals. Iranian researchers are looking to use cloned goats to produce the genetically modified animals required for manufacturing new recombinant medications.(April 2009) Isfahan, Iran

The world's first pashmina goat clone, produced at Centre of Animal Biotechnology at Sher-iKashmir Agriculture University for Science and technology (SKAUST), in Kashmir, India. It has been named Noori, an Arabic word referring to light. Funded by World Bank, the clone project was a jointly worked by SKAUST and Karnal-based National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI).The clone has come as good news for fine fiber-producing pashmina goats, which are only spotted at an altitude of 14,000 feet in Ladakh, the coldest region of the state. The valley owes its fame, besides natural beauty, to famed fine wool of pashmina, gathered from mountainous of Ladakh after the goat sheds its wool as a natural process.The goat survives minus 40 degree Celsius temperature at an altitude of 14,000 feet. In spring, the animal sheds its fiber, called soft pashm, six times finer than human hair. The fiber is used to spun famous kashmiri shawls, scarves, and stoles.http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Srinagar/Nooriis-world-s-first-pashmina-goat-clone/Article1-826440.aspx

Mice

Possibly the first cloned mammal was a mouse (named "Masha") in 1986, in the Soviet Union.[24] However, the cloning was done from an embryo cell, while the sheep Dolly in 1996 was cloned from an adult cell. The first mouse from adult cells, Cumulina, was born in 1997 at the University of Hawai'i at Mnoa in the laboratory of Ryuzo Yanagimachi using the Honolulu technique. Over a dozen clones as of 2002.

Mouflon

An endangered species, the Mouflon was the first to live past infancy. Cloned 2001[25]

Mule

Idaho Gem (male, May 2003)[26]

Utah Pioneer (male, June 2003) Idaho Star (male, July 2003)

Pig

5 Scottish PPL piglets (Millie, Alexis, Dotcom, Carrel, and Christa) (March 5, 2000)[27] Xena (female, August 2000)[28]

Pyrenean ibex
In 2009, one clone was alive, but died seven minutes later, due to physical defects in the lungs. The Pyrenean Ibex became the first taxon ever to come back from extinction, for a period of seven minutes in January 2009.[29]

Rabbit

In France (MarchApril, 2003)[citation needed]

Rat

Ralph (male, 2003)[18]

Rhesus Monkey

Tetra (female, January 2000) by embryo splitting.[30] Cloned embryos (November 2007) by transfer of DNA from adult cells .[31]

Sheep

From early embryonic cells by Steen Willadsen (1986). Megan and Morag cloned from differentiated embryonic cells in June 1995. Dolly (19962003), first cloned mammal from somatic cells Polly and Molly (July 1997), first transgenic cloned mammal Royana (2006) cloned in Royan Research institute in Isfahan, Iran. Oyal [8] [9] and Zarife[10] were cloned in November 2007 in Istanbul University in Istanbul, Turkey.

Water Buffalo
The world's first water buffalo was cloned either in Beijing China[32] in 2005 or New Delhi, India in 2009 "Samrupa", the world's first cloned buffalo calf, which died a week later from a lung infection.[33]

Wolf

An endangered species of wolf cloned by South Korean scientists including the controversial scientist Hwang Woo-Suk There are two cloned wolves in a zoo in South Korea for public view, they are called Snuwolf and Snuwolffy which are names taken from the university in South Korea, Seoul National University.[34]

What Is Cloning?
Cloning is the process of creating genetically identical copies of biological matter. This may include genes, cells, tissues or entire organisms.

Types of Cloning
When we speak of cloning, we typically think of organism cloning, but there are actually three different types of cloning.

Molecular Cloning

Molecular cloning focuses on making identical copies of DNA molecules. This type of cloning is also called gene cloning.

Organism Cloning

Organism cloning involves making an identical copy of an entire organism. This type of cloning is also called reproductive cloning.

Therapeutic Cloning

Therapeutic cloning involves the cloning of human embryos for the production of stem cells. The embryos are eventually destroyed in this process.

Reproductive Cloning Techniques

Cloning techniques are laboratory processes used to produce offspring that are genetically identical to the donor parent. Clones of adult animals are created by a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Cloned Animals
Scientists have been successful in cloning a number of different animals.

Cloning Problems
What are the risks of cloning? One of the main concerns as it relates to human cloning is that the current processes used in animal cloning are only successful a very small percentage of the time. Another concern is that the cloned animals that do survive tend to have various health problems and shorter life spans. Scientist have not yet figured out why these problems occur and there is no reason to think that these same problems wouldn't happen in human cloning.

Cloning and Ethics

Should humans be cloned? A major objection to cloning for research is that cloned embryos are produced and ultimately destroyed. For more information on cloning and ethics, see: Biological Ethics: Cloning Revisited Cloning still raises very serious ethical issues. Bioethics.net Information from the American Journal of Bioethics on the ethical issues of cloning. Cells

10 Facts About Cells Cell Structure Cellular Respiration

Reproduction

Asexual Reproduction Sexual Reproduction Fertilization

Genes and Chromosomes

Chromosomes and Sex Sex Chromosome Abnormalities Mendelian Genetics

Related Articles

Cloning - The Current Controversy Surrounding Human Cloning Bush Backs Total Ban on Human Cloning Bush Blasts Cloning of Human Cells How do you spell breakthrough? D-O-L-L-Y! Should Human Cloning Be Banned? - The Debate Over Whether Human Cloning Sho...

Research advances over the past decade have told us that, with a little work, we humans can clone just about anything we want, from frogs to monkeys and probably even ourselves! So, we can clone things, but why would we want to? Let's look at some of the reasons people give to justify cloning.

1. Cloning for medical purposes

Of all the reasons, cloning for medical purposes has the most potential to benefit large numbers of people. How might cloning be used in medicine?

Cloning animal models of disease Much of what researchers learn about human disease comes from studying animal models such as mice. Often, animal models are genetically engineered to carry disease-causing mutations in their genes. Creating these transgenic animals is a time-intensive process that requires trial-and-error and several generations of breeding. Cloning technologies might reduce the time needed to make a transgenic animal model, and the result would be a population of genetically identical animals for study.

Cloning stem cells for research Stem cells are the body's building blocks, responsible for developing, maintaining and repairing the body throughout life. As a result, they might be used to repair damaged or diseased organs and tissues. Researchers are currently looking toward cloning as a way to create genetically defined human stem cells for research and medical purposes. To see how this is done, see Creating Stem Cells for Research, a component of the Stem Cells in the Spotlight module.

"Pharming" for drug production Farm animals such as cows, sheep and goats are currently being genetically engineered to produce drugs or proteins that are useful in medicine. Just like creating animal models of disease, cloning might be a faster way to produce large herds of genetically engineered animals. Find out more about this research in the feature article Pharming for Farmaceuticals.

2. Reviving Endangered or Extinct Species

Have you seen Jurassic Park? In this feature film, scientists use DNA preserved for tens of millions of years to clone dinosaurs. They find trouble, however, when they realize that the cloned creatures are smarter and fiercer than expected. Could we really clone dinosaurs? In theory? Yes. What would you need to do this?

A well-preserved source of DNA from the extinct dinosaur, and A closely related species, currently living, that could serve as a surrogate mother

In reality? Probably not. It's not likely that dinosaur DNA could survive undamaged for such a long time. However, scientists have tried to clone species that became extinct more recently, using DNA from well-preserved tissue samples. For an example, see "Can we really clone endangered or extinct animals?" on the right side of this page.

3. Reproducing a Deceased Pet

No joke! If you really wanted to, and if you had enough money, you could clone your beloved family cat. At least one biotechnology company in the United States offers cat cloning services for the privileged and bereaved, and they are now working to clone dogs. But don't assume that your cloned kitty will be exactly the same as the one you know and love. Why not? See Cloning Myths.

4.cloning in human beings?

To clone or not to clone: that is the question. The prospect of cloning humans is highly controversial and raises a number of ethical, legal and social challenges that need to be considered. To explore some of these, see What are Some Issues in Cloning? Why would anyone want to clone humans? Some reasons include:

To help infertile couples have children To replace a deceased child

From a technical standpoint, before humans are cloned, we need to have a good idea of the risks involved. How sure can we be that a cloned baby will be healthy? What might go wrong? To evaluate the technical challenges to cloning, see Risks of Cloning.