Researchers at the Institute of Neurology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai have applied the technique used to clone Dolly sheep to create genetically identical copies of long-tailed macaques.
These two monkeys are not the first Chinese clones. Previously, a similar experiment was conducted, but was limited to the technology of splitting embryos, but now the researchers have applied a more sophisticated molecular technique used in 1996 to create Dolly the sheep.
According to a study published in the journal Cell, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences made 79 attempts with 127 eggs before they produced Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, a pair of genetically identical long-tailed macaques.
Thus, the statistics of experiments indicate a rather low level of success. In addition, in the case of an experiment 20 years ago in Scotland, the original cells of an adult animal were used to transplant the genetic material. At the same time, in China, they were able to do the same only with embryonic cells. Nevertheless, according to scientists, they are working to improve the methodology.
According to the Chinese research group, the purpose of their experiments is to combat Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, which are difficult to study in laboratory mice, but can be studied in cloned primates. However, such experiments on primates in the West are legally limited and the noble aspirations of the Chinese will not help the involvement of countries such as the United States in the experiment.
Chinese scientists claim that they are following the international guidelines for animal research established by the US National Institutes of Health, but they are already calling for discussion of new rules for cloning primates.
They are unlikely to be successful in this endeavor, nevertheless, in the United States, as well as in the world in general, there are enough very rich people who can ignore the laws to finance the research they need abroad. Perhaps that is why the Chinese named their first two experimental subjects very ambiguously.
Promotional video:
Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua are a duplication of the Chinese phrase Zhong Hua, which roughly means: get ready, the Chinese are coming!