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A group of Chinese scientists have cloned the first primates using the same method that cloned Dolly the sheep two decades ago. The monkeys are named Hua Hua and Zhong Zhong, and are reportedly healthy and living in an incubator.
According to a report in the peer-reviewed journal, Cell, the scientists cloned the two macaque monkeys using an optimized version of the technique somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) — the same technique used to create Dolly. Scientists took DNA from the nuclei of fetal monkey cells, and placed genes into monkey eggs that had their own DNA extracted. Scientists then activated the eggs to turn into embryos which went on to be implanted in the wombs of the surrogate monkeys.
Authors of the report suggest that cloning monkeys will benefit research on human disease.
“As species closer to humans, non-human primates are ideal animal models for studying physiological functions unique to primates and for developing therapeutic treatments of human diseases,” the report states.
While only two monkeys have been born, the long experiment could yield more baby monkeys.
Mumming Poo, an author on the paper, explained to CNN, “by optimizing the method, we obtained 79 well-developed embryos and implanted them in 21 female monkey surrogates.
