Tag: Centre for Developmental Biology
Cloning From The Grave
by bethany on Nov.04, 2008, under cloning
Image Courtesy www.dailymail.co.uk
Researchers in Japan have announced that they have created clones of a mouse that had been frozen for 16 years. It is reportedly the first time scientists have cloned a frozen animal. Potential applications of the research include bringing extinct animals such as the woolly mammoth back to life. Critics of the research have voiced concerns that the research will lead to cloning of human beings.
Scientists had previously thought that freezing a body would create ice crystals that destroy cellular DNA. For this reason, the Japanese researchers at the Centre for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan used brain cells because they believed the skull and the fat content of the brain would protect the cells from damage. Still, the success rate of the procedure was quite low: it took 1,100 attempts to produce seven healthy clones.
More information on the research is available at the Daily Mail.
