Scientists use Dolly technology to clone mice
23 July 1998
Scientists use Dolly technology to clone mice
THE cloning of larger animals – and perhaps humans – moved a step closer yesterday with the announcement that scientists have succeeded in cloning mice.
A Japanese-led team of researchers at the University of Hawaii has successfully cloned 50 mice from adult cells.
It is described as the most significant development in cloning since the creation of Dolly the sheep in Scotland last year. There are now hopes the technique, licensed to ProBio of Australia, may have wider applications beyond mice.
The Independent says that cloning is expected to lead to improvements in agriculture once it is perfected. The Guardian reports it could lead to surer ways of “copying” the best farm animals. It could also be used to boost numbers of rare and endangered species.
The first mouse clone has been called Cumulina, after the cumulus cell from which she was created. She, and subsequent mice, are said to have been made by a more reliable technique than that used for Dolly.
The Daily Telegraph says that lingering doubts about the authenticity of Dolly will be erased today by two studies that confirm she is the first animal to have been cloned from an adult cell.
The donor ewe was pregnant at the time so there have been claims that Dolly could have been the product of a foetal cell. But two reports in Nature today reject this.
Meanwhile, PPL Therapeutics, which helped to produce Dolly, has agreed a licence to use ProBios cloning technology.
- Financial Times 23/07/98 page 1, page 20
- The Times 23/07/98 page 1
- The Independent 23/07/98 page 1
- The Guardian 23/07/98 page 7
- The Daily Telegraph 23/07/98 page 8, page 33