Ever since the first clone mammalian , Dolly the Sheep , conk out abnormally youthful , there ’s been plenty of talk aboutclone ageing . Now , scientist have cloned the world ’s first clone hot dog to study these “ re - clones ” to determine whether they expire sooner and eld ready than their non - cloned counterpart .
“ Scientifically , this is very exciting , ” cogitation author CheMyong J. Ko from the University of Illinois , secern Gizmodo . Ko pointed out that he ’s not the one clone the detent but offer consulting advice for the squad in South Korea .
The specifics of cad reproduction make them particularly difficult animals to clone . It was n’t until 2005 that scientists at Seoul National University announced they ’d cloned a blackguard named Tai to make “ Snuppy . ” Snuppy expire curtly after his tenth birthday — two years younger than Tai , and around two age young than the average healthy Afghan Hound .
Snuppy ’s lifespan was n’t markedly short , but you still might recollect Dolly , the first cloned sheep , who did kick the bucket abnormally quickly . Many assumed Dolly ’s death had something to do with her clone identicalness . New research has manifest that probablywasn’t the case . But others are still wondering if being a knockoff has an impingement on lifetime . So the South Korean team cloned Snuppy to produce the re - ringer .
The research worker do n’t get into the specifics of what vital organ they ’ll canvass in the pawl , but Ko suggest they might compare the resistant systems , genetic science , and behavior between the three re - cloned animals and non - clones .
“ Clinical and molecular follow - up of these reclones over their liveliness will provide us with a alone opportunity to consider the wellness and longevity of clone animals compare with their cell donors , ” according to the paperpublished recentlyin Scientific Reports .
The team began by taking 120 conferrer dog egg cells , then supervene upon the genetical material with Snuppy ’s . They implanted 13 , 13 , and 14 cells into three mother , which multiply four clon — but one die from severe diarrhea a few day after birth . Three dissimilar families have adopted or will adopt the other three , said Ko , one of the study ’s author . Sending the click to three different homes will allow the squad to see how other environmental divisor might influence how the clones long time .
It ’s important to note that the investigator behind Snuppy , Woo Suk Hwang , was a controversial figure . The Seoul National University dismissed him afterinvestigationsfound he hadpotentially falsified resultsin other experiments . This cast doubt on Snuppy ’s authenticity — but further investigations establish that Snuppy , at least , really wasa clone .
And now , further enquiry on Snuppy ’s reclones could shed visible light on what being a clone really means .
[ Scientific Reports ]
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