My Friendly Pets

Yesterday it was announced that the first adult human cells were cloned by a private company in California. Technology was used to make 5 embryos in the hopes of making matched stem cells for patients. While this is a true break through, many people don’t realize that the first dog was cloned over two years ago in South Korea.

Snuppy, an Afghan hound was born in April 2005 at a Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea. Woo Suk Hwang, was head of the team that cloned Snuppy. This process wasn’t perfect or efficient as it took 1000 to 2000 embyos before the cloned embryos. The cloned dog was created by using the same techniqe that was used to create Dolly, the first clone created mammal in 1997. It was more difficult to clone a dog than other mammals because canine eggs are more immature during ovulation than other mammal eggs. In order to avoid this dilemma, Woo Suk Hwang and his team discoved a way to retrieve the eggs in a more mature state. This help to facilitate the success of the dog clone.

The claim of this cloning raised the eyebrows of skeptics. But after two independent studies confirmed that the dog was indeed a clone based on the DNA studies. This was an awesome feat and one that has far reaching implications. Scientists are truly hoping that the dog clones will shed some light on treating serious human afflictions.

So how does this actually work. Well, in Snuppy’s case it went like this; the genetic material of the ear was taken from a 3 year old afghan hound and it was placed into an empty egg cell. The egg was stimulated to divide and grow into an embryo. After growing a bit, it was then transferred into the womb of a surrogate dog, a yellow lab, where the gestation period was completed in 60 days. The puppy was delivered by cesarean section at that time.

Of course there are many ethically based questions that result from cloning, none of which will be addressed here. But cloning is here and I believe here to stay. If used for the benefits it could bring, everyone would be better for the results. However, I would imagine that along the line, there would be some who would try and profit or exploit the aspect of dog cloning for their own personal gain. But time will truly tell.

For some other science related information on making you feel better, read fellow blogger, Brick ONeil on www.encouraginghealth.com