Carbon Copy Cats
Cloning is a relatively new scientific advancement. Many animals have been cloned to date, including cows, goats, sheep, mice and even dogs and cats.
There have been several successful attempts at cloning both wild and domestic felines, for example Cc (Copy cat), the first cloned ‘pet’ and Madge, Caty and Ditteaux, three African wildcats, all of which are healthy and energetic. Madge and Caty have even had 8 kittens collectively, fathered by Ditteaux.
The cats were all cloned using a nuclear transfer method, where a cell of the cloned animal is inserted into an emptied ovum (nucleus has been removed) and then the ova containing the cloned DNA is inserted into the uterus of a hormonally-receptive surrogate mother. The cells of the ‘cloned’ animal are forced into a dormant phase, Go phase, before insemination. In this dormant state the cell shuts off all gene activity and the cell loses its differentiation. Once the cell is re-activated (electric pulse) and inserted, the cell is then able to divide and re-differentiate as the embryo develops.
Cloning has a low success rate. Of the few animals that fall pregnant, many either lose the embryo during development or the cloned kitten is born with severe abnormalities and dies shortly after birth. In Cc’s case, she was the only surviving kitten out of 87 embryos created via cloning.
Cloning is an important advancement as it has the potential to further our attempts in the conservation of endangered species by cloning several individuals of a population(s), mating them and releasing the animals and clones back into their natural habitats. Provided the current threat to the species is addressed many species at risk of extinction could be saved. Cloning could also be useful in the study of diseases in both animals e.g. inherited diseases of purebreds, and humans, as dogs and cats are good models for many human diseases e.g. feline aids.
There have been several successful attempts at cloning both wild and domestic felines, for example Cc (Copy cat), the first cloned ‘pet’ and Madge, Caty and Ditteaux, three African wildcats, all of which are healthy and energetic. Madge and Caty have even had 8 kittens collectively, fathered by Ditteaux.
The cats were all cloned using a nuclear transfer method, where a cell of the cloned animal is inserted into an emptied ovum (nucleus has been removed) and then the ova containing the cloned DNA is inserted into the uterus of a hormonally-receptive surrogate mother. The cells of the ‘cloned’ animal are forced into a dormant phase, Go phase, before insemination. In this dormant state the cell shuts off all gene activity and the cell loses its differentiation. Once the cell is re-activated (electric pulse) and inserted, the cell is then able to divide and re-differentiate as the embryo develops.
Cloning has a low success rate. Of the few animals that fall pregnant, many either lose the embryo during development or the cloned kitten is born with severe abnormalities and dies shortly after birth. In Cc’s case, she was the only surviving kitten out of 87 embryos created via cloning.
Cloning is an important advancement as it has the potential to further our attempts in the conservation of endangered species by cloning several individuals of a population(s), mating them and releasing the animals and clones back into their natural habitats. Provided the current threat to the species is addressed many species at risk of extinction could be saved. Cloning could also be useful in the study of diseases in both animals e.g. inherited diseases of purebreds, and humans, as dogs and cats are good models for many human diseases e.g. feline aids.
Sabrina Christoff-Tzazaroff (41211265)
