Breakthrough: World's First Cloned Puppies from Fat Stem Cells |
South Korean firm is first |
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Editors published 1/30/2009 11:30:00 AM
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RNL Bio, a South Korean biotech company, in conjunction with Seoul National University, created the world's first cloned puppies (named Stem and Magic) from fat stem cells.
Other animals have been cloned using stem cells, but this is the first for a dog.
RNL Bio head Ra Jeong-chan told reporters that his company plans to commercialize the technology, in which it lets clients store their dogs' stem cells, using them in efforts to cure their pets' diseases or clone them after they die.
Ra said the approach would also help scientists study how to treat human diseases such as diabetes and arthritis by putting human disease-related genes into dogs' stem cells and creating clones.
Lee Byeong-chun, head of the university research team, agreed, saying stem cells offer an advantage over ordinary cells for such genetic research.
Lee was a key aide to disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk, whose purported breakthroughs in stem cell research were revealed as false. Independent tests, however, later proved the team's dog cloning was genuine.
Lee said his team has so far cloned about 35 dogs and five wolves.
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