Retro is a cloned rhesus monkey who was born on July 16, 2020. He’s now over three years old and “he’s doing well and growing strong,” said Falong Lu, one of the authors of the study published this week in the journal Natural communications This explains the scientific feat. This is the first time a cloned monkey of this species has survived to adulthood.
It is the fact that he lived for so long that allows the Chinese team to declare his cloning a success. In 2022, researchers cloned a rhesus monkey, but the animal lived less than 12 hours. In this case, they used a standard technique known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). It was used in 1996 to clone the famous sheep Dolly, and then other mammals, including pigs, cows, horses and dogs.
Cloning using this method is achieved, generally speaking, when the nucleus of an organism’s cell is transferred into an egg whose nucleus has been removed. This method typically results in extremely low fertility and survival rates for cloned embryos.
In a new study, scientists from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences slightly improved the technique. This time they added placental progenitor cells. So, They managed to create 113 embryos, transfer 11 to seven surrogate mothers, achieve two pregnancies and one birth: Retro.
Drug testing on cloned monkeys
The monkey was named “Retro” after the scientific method. called “trophoblast replacement” used to produce a cloned animal. By replacing the placenta of a cloned embryo with the placenta of embryos obtained through in vitro fertilization, scientists were able to reduce the developmental defects that prevent the survival of cloned embryos.
Since the first primate was cloned six years ago, scientists have used cloned monkeys to study human diseases such as depression and anxiety. Also for testing various drugs.
“We can produce large numbers of genetically homogeneous monkeys that can be used to test the effectiveness of drugs.”Mu-ming Pu, director of the Institute of Neuroscience at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai, told the magazine. Nature. The rhesus macaque is a species widely used in medical research because its physiology is similar to that of humans.
“We are seeing the beginning of the use of these cloned monkeys,” Pu emphasized. “We want to use as few animals as possible to demonstrate the effectiveness of the drug without interference from genetic background.” But he explains that there are still technological aspects to be resolved before the cloning process becomes more flexible.
Animal cruelty
This was announced by a representative of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in Great Britain. BBC that the suffering of animals outweighs any direct benefit to human patients. “This study has no immediate application,” the representative emphasized. “We expect these experiments will benefit people, but any application to real life will take years.”
The RSPCA said it insisted large numbers of animals were being subjected to “suffering and suffering” in experiments with very low success rates. “Primates are intelligent and sensitive animals, and not simply research tools,” the organization said.
Source: Hiper Textual
