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SCIENTISTS IN CHINA have created the first monkeys cloned by the same process that produced Dolly the sheep more than 20 years ago, a breakthrough that could boost medical research into human diseases.
The two long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) named Hua Hua and Zhong Zhong were born at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai, and are the fruits of years of research into a cloning technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer.
“The barrier has been broken by this work,” co-author Muming Poo, director of the Institute of Neuroscience of CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, told AFP.
Until now, the technique has been used to clone more than 20 different animal species, including dogs, pigs and cats, but primates have proven particularly difficult.
The birth of the now six and eight-week old macaque babies also raises ethical questions about how close scientists have come to one day cloning humans.
Humans could be cloned by this technique, in principle, said Poo, though this team’s focus was on cloning for medical research.
One day, the approach might be used to create large populations of genetically identical monkeys that could be used for medical research — and avoid taking monkeys from the wild.
“In the United States alone they are importing 30,000 to 40,000 monkeys each year by drug companies,” said Poo.
Their genetic backgrounds are all variable, they are not identical, so you need a large number of monkeys. For ethical reasons I think having cloned monkey will greatly reduce the (number of) monkeys used for drug tests.
Monkeys are commonly used in medical research on brain diseases like Parkinson’s, cancer, immune and metabolic disorders.
‘Much failure’ before success
“The method used for these experiments is similar to that used to clone Dolly,” in 1996 but with several “updates,” said William Ritchie, an embryologist on the team that cloned Dolly the sheep at the Roslin Institute of the University of Edinburgh.
The process involves removing the nucleus from a healthy egg, and replacing it with another nucleus from another type of body cell. The clone becomes the same as the creature that donated the replacement nucleus.
“We tried several different methods, but only one worked,” said senior author Qiang Sun, Director of the Nonhuman Primate Research Facility at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Neurosciences.
There was much failure before we found a way to successfully clone a monkey.
Adult donor cells were attempted, but those clones died within hours of birth.
What worked as replacement nuclei were cells that came from foetal connective tissue.
Poo said it took first author Zhen Liu, a postdoctoral fellow, three years to perfect the procedure.
“The SCNT procedure is rather delicate, so the faster you do it, the less damage to the egg you have, and Dr Liu has a green thumb for doing this.”
Ethical questions
Other monkeys have been cloned in the past, by a different and simpler technique called embryo splitting, which mimics how twins arise naturally.
The first primate ever cloned this way was Tetra, a rhesus monkey born in 1999.
Embryo splitting can produce a maximum of four at a time, while the new technique could in theory clone far more.
Still, the process that produced Hua Hua and Zhong Zhong remains “very inefficient and hazardous,” because the two babies were the only born from a group of 79 cloned embryos, said British scientists Robin Lovell-Badge, group leader of The Francis Crick Institute.
“While they succeeded in obtaining cloned macaques, the numbers are too low to make many conclusions,” said Lovell-Badge, who was not involved in the study.
“With only two produced it would have been far simpler to just split a normal early embryo into two, to obtain identical twins.”
Nor do the findings, published in the US journal Cell, bring scientists any closer to human cloning, Lovell-Badge argued.
“This clearly remains a very foolish thing to attempt, it would be far too inefficient, far too unsafe, and it is also pointless.”
Darren Griffin, professor of genetics at the University of Kent, greeted the paper with “cautious optimism” and called it “very impressive” from a technical standpoint.
“The first report of cloning of a non-human primate will undoubtedly raise a series of ethical concerns, with critics evoking the slippery slope argument of this being one step closer to human cloning,” he added.
“The benefits of this approach however are clear. A primate model that can be generated with a known and uniform genetic background would undoubtedly be very useful in the study, understanding and ultimately treatment, of human diseases, especially those with a genetic element.”
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Tribunals and inquiries are pointless and cost the taxpayer many millions. They are a blessing to any lawyer and other legal people involved, but a burden to the rest.
Not only do they cost a lot, they also seem to only do half the job. While they might investigate who was responsible, they fail to actually put the responsible people behind bars. In many countries politicians can be jailed for corruption or false expenses. Not in this country. They are treated like superstars (in the eyes of the court) and can get away with anything, like the minister for finance claiming he did not have a bank account.
What we need is a form of tribunal/inquiry that can lock the responsible politician up for up to a life scentence, see their pension stripped and fined a large amount (maybe cover the cost of the tribunal/inquiry). This would put fear back in politicians, which has been non existent so far.
@Andy K: And then nobody would do anything for fear of doing something wrong.
You missed the point of the article in that if you fall into the trap of a blame game a) the truth never comes out and b) the organisation grinds to a halt.
We need transparency not an emotional response to “lock ‘em up”
By all means people should be jailed for corruption but 99% of failures and losses are due to organisational flaws, genuine mistakes or good ‘ole fashioned incompetence – not malice. You can’t jail people for failure
@Kevin McDonnell: 96% of random stats are made up on the spot!
@Brown Boots: Ha ha – correct
99% is a term of speech rather than a literal fact
@Kevin McDonnell:
I would suspect the actual stat is a lot higher than 99%
@Kevin McDonnell: Sorry if it seemed like it, but I didnt say we should lock people up for ‘failure’.
But, if you are in charge, and scandal after scandal appears and you do not seem like you are trying your best to fix it then you should be jailed as you failed your duty. Much like our garda commissioner, who is being called for to ‘step down’ rather than hold her accountable for failure (and possibly corruption).
You cannot expect people to have a position of power and, when the county needs you turn your back and pretend like you did nothing, as doing nothing is not punishable.
In most countries if you see someone dying but you did nothing, you commited a jailable offense and will go to prison if convicted.
We do not elect politicians to stand around and twiddle their thumbs in a crisis. They chose to be elected, so they should be responsible.
@Andy K: I don’t think a person chooses to get elected. I think a person puts themselves forward for election, because they think that they could make a change for the better. The electorate choose to elect that person or not. If the electorate choose unwisely then they are the ones who suffer.
@Jonathan Kennedy: There are too many ‘pillars of society’ in our communities created by the establishment and leaving no room for people who actually do most of the work.
@Andy K: We have a system for locking up people who commit crimes, The courts. I would not be happy with giving politicians the power to jail people. And if someones actions regardless of how reprehensible are not a crime they should not be jailed. So to have some sort of tribunal with those powers they would have to have the same safeguards and procedures as the courts such as the presumption of innocence and rules of evidence, in other words simply a duplication of the courts, and how much would that cost?
@Brown Boots:surely not!
“What is needed are comprehensive accountability regimes that include everyone involved. An important part of this is mutual accountability that is enacted along task interdependencies, not simply based on formal reporting lines.”
Great. How exactly do you implement that principle? Why do I suspect that the answer involves consultants from academia, oh I don’t know, Organizational Behaviour or something?
Forget it Martin.
It’s not fixable.
When you realise that ALL the people in the public and civil service ARE the unions you will understand this.
Give it up and go back to bed.
I have been reading articles like this for forty years, about hospital waiting lists, housing problems and so on and on.
As the welfare society marches in step towards communism, they will vote for more and more free stuff from the government (tax payers).
Everyone in society wants all the good things and want to watch sky tv while they are getting it.
The more people on benefits, the more people to vote for more and greater benefits.
It’s a vicious circle and will eventually destroy the economy and society.
@Cram Wood: all the people in the public sector aren’t in the unions. Most if not all the mangers are not. They make decisions that the staff have to implement even if they think it is wrong. Staff member may do exactly as they are told and it can hit the media with people calling for them to be fired. The staff member didn’t do anything wrong.
Mistake also happen along with technical issues. This happens in the public sector too. Advertisement campaign announcement may say be booked and the software might not be ready, doesn’t matter has to go live. Then you there is a fault. Who is to blame? The guy who said it wasn’t ready, programmer, project manager for underestimating or the minister that decided it had to go live?
@Kal Ipers: Our County Council say that they are ‘Putting People First’, they don’t state however which people they are talking about as it becomes clearer that the executive is not listening.
@Chris Kirk: Nothing you said has anything to do with what I said.
The Church & State colluded in the cover-up of abuses in the Institutions – including many deaths of children.
Church & State design an Indemnity Deal that absolves those who participated in the cover-up.
Church & State design a Commission that partially allows abuse victims to give their testimony.
The Commission issues a damning report, revealing the Church & State colluded in the cover-up of abuses in the Institutions – including many deaths of children.
Not only should officials in the gov, councils, hse etc be resposible for their actions. What about the thugs on the streets who are breaking into cars, houses, assault etc & getting away with it because they weren’t loved enough when they were a baby. Now they are on drugs, booze, mental issues because of it, It’s a get out of jail card for them. No one care about the person on the street who has suffered because of these thugs, They get offered nothing. The thugs get offered everythin they want. Then they don’t turn up for the help. These thugs are from all walks of life. Immigerants both legal and illegal, irish, rich, poor doesn’t matter where you live. There are thugs in your estate, appartment. your road, town, village. It’s a revolving door for the thugs regarding accountability. If they are taken to court they’re out the revolving door before the garda is finished writing up the report. I may be off the point of the article but everyone is responsible for their own actions from the top right down to the bottom.
It just appears that crisis management is the only response. There is homeless then build more houses. No discussion as to who and how the people are in a housing crisis. There is often a chain of bad policies that lead to individual misery of the most vulnerable in society. Instead of preventing homelessness or healthcare waiting lists there is a big emphasis on reducing the problem highlighted by statistics. Blaming individuals instead of changing the causes is the approach. Although cultural definition of white collar crime has to be discussed and addressed in the same way drink driving culture has been addressed. The poor handling of the Garda situation only serves to confirm that it is OK as long as you’re not caught out.
@Melissa O’Callaghan: The fact that we have a homelessness problem in a country with over a quarter of a million empty houses beggars belief
Weird for an associate professor to write an article purely based on his opinion. So the point behind it is… The feds knew internal affairs were onto them all the time, yeah?
The State sets up these Commissions ,to kick the can down the road,with the reasonable hope of the citizens forgetting about the issue.Setting up a Commission with no powers to compel witnesses to give evidence ,Setting up Commissions with their own Establishment supporters from one from the fee paying Preparatory Colleges with a proven track record of giving the desired result
Setting up Commissions with incompetents ,who are doomed to fail .the last reason because the other alternative involves the word Corruption,Perjury has to have a penalty
@Brian O Reilly: yes, but don’t expect any punishment to be meted out, unless you are a penniless shoplifter grabbing a sandwich to stem the hunger
So we need Goldilocks accountability then . Accountability in this country just doesn’t happen and when it’s tried everyone jumps on the gravy train to make money for themselves. Mo tribunals mo money !!! It’s a system that’s rotten to its core
I loved it when the Troika came to Ireland, for the first time ever the government was made to feel accountable.
And too many times where attempts to make criminal wrong-doers answer for their crimes, only to see them walk free and later sue the state (the people) for costs, also makes monsters. Of the people, who are sick of it. Corruption creates revolution which in turn creates monsters on both sides.
WE are not talking about monsters and fools ,what we need to be talking about is well paid professionals getting it right ,duty of care ,responsibility ,leading by example.The political system has allowed this mediocre mindset to flourish, the example should come from the top down but in ireland this is delibertly not allowed to happen .what we have is our institutions and public bodies reduced to diluted semi functioning political apparatus .accountability and transparency has never seen the light of day since the foundation of the state .everything is thrown under the carpet untill it cant be hidden any more ,then we have the great delusion it is being delt with ,lolololol
As my grandmother used to say: ‘To many cooks spoil the broth’.!!
@Chris Kirk: as my old gran said, too many crooks spoil the broth
Problem is no accountability is applied in ireland.how do you think corruption has taken over all state institutions.when first discovered the people involved we’re not held accountable,faced no consequences and so it contiued,and management cover it up.there is no excuses for repeated incompetence,wrong doing, as in Irish public services, institutions.
@@mdmak33: absolutely, why can’t we name a few..oh I forgot whistleblowers are persecuted
Lack of accountability runs right through Irish society and is not the sole preserve of the so called empowered, it is shared from the bottom up, top down, middle to either end. The blame game is a national trait.
The blame game is done by bullies and victims, by bullies who do not want to look at fault and by victims who bullies try to poison the well around them from passing the buck to bullying because they get away with it?
Here in Ireland how people get along is written on all bar doors, pull and push lol. It is not what you know but whom and most are self serving and self protective as well?
People behaviour here is based on the self first and secondly on the group and trying to find acceptance within a group and normally the glue that binds is found in the local pub?
The thing that seems to create closeness is doing what each other is doing and having a common enemy as in the public lol. What builds groups is individuals being asked to do favours for each other not doing favours but being asked to do them, makes you think… The blame game works here very well because it is the national mentality as well as so many not knowing what they are doing but copying each other hoping it is right because of what they are told and that is the only experience they know?
It is called bluffing it???
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