Monkey clones

tablariddim said:
http://voanews.com/english/2007-11-15-voa8.cfm

Will this mean, even more socks on SF?
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well it certainly will...human socks obviously

baby_clones.jpg


Companies are planning to submit applications for FDA approval to begin human testing of treatments based on embryonic stem cell research.

By Aaron Smith, CNNMoney.com staff writer
October 31 2007: 11:56 AM EDT

PITTSBURGH (CNNMoney.com)—Companies that develop drugs using embryonic stem cell research could soon enter a bold new phase: human testing.
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This company's website:

http://www.advancedcell.com/recent-news-item/next-step-in-stem-cells-human-tests
 
Let's hope this report isn't spurious.

Scientists in Oregon say they've reached the long-sought goal of cloning monkey embryos and extracting stem cells from them, a potentially major step toward doing the same thing in people.

The research has not been published yet or confirmed by other scientists. But if true, it offers fresh hope in field that has been marked by frustration and even fraud. The claim of a similar breakthrough with human embryos by a South Korean scientist in 2004 turned out to be false ....

.... The success was reported earlier this year at a scientific meeting in Australia by Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon National Primate Research Center in Portland. It received limited media attention at the time, but the results were given new attention Tuesday by a London newspaper, The Independent.

(Ritter)
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The usual caveats are in effect. Michigan State University scientist Jose Cibelli reminds that "we're still far off to start dreaming about translating this technique to humans"; Westchester Institute executive director, Rev. Thomas Berg, called the breakthrough a "two-edged sword", and warned that application in humans would be "one of humanity's darkest endeavors".

The team of researchers, from Oregon and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, used a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer, in which genetic material from a somatic cell -- any cell other than a sperm or egg -- is transferred into the nucleus of an unfertilized egg.

The problem is that the DNA from the donor is not at the same stage of life as the material in the egg, and getting the two into rhythm can be difficult ....

.... In many species, for example, researchers use dyes to see the part of the cell that holds the DNA in place. Mitalipov concluded that the stains were impeding the cloning process in primates and developed a technique using polarized light that avoided the problem.

They also discovered a variety of other technical tricks, including removing calcium and magnesium from the medium in which the cells were grown ....

This study is "really a combination of refinements of technologies that results in a better end result," said Paul J. Simmons, director of the Center for Stem Cell Biology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, who was not involved in the research.

Even with all the modifications, the team was able to produce only two stem cell lines from 304 eggs subjected to the process, a success rate of 0.7%. One of those lines had an abnormal Y chromosome; the other was normal.

Other scientists were not particularly concerned with the inefficiency, however. When any technology is first developed, "it will be inefficient and not terribly practical," said molecular biologist Larry Goldstein of UC San Diego, who was not involved in the research. "The first computer was pretty slow. . . . You have to keep it in perspective."

(Kaplan and Maugh)
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And the fun graphics:





Above: AP via SeattleTimes.com. Below: LATimes.com
(click images for articles)​

In an effort to avert a scientific disaster reminiscent of Hwang Woo-suk's 2005 implosion following the announcement of a cloned human embryo—

The editors of Nature took the highly unusual step of submitting biological samples from Mitalipov's lab to Australian researchers for confirmation.

Geneticist David Cram and his colleagues at Monash University analyzed DNA from the male macaque who served as a skin cell donor, the two females who donated the eggs and the stem cells themselves.

They concluded that "beyond any doubt" the stem cells came from cloned embryos.

(Kaplan and Maugh)
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____________________

Notes:

Ritter, Malcom. "Scientists Claim to Clone Monkey Embryos". LATimes.com. November 14, 2007. See http://www.latimes.com/news/science/wire/sns-ap-monkey-clones,1,2938060.story

Kaplan, Karen and Thomas H. Maugh II. "Monkey embryos cloned for stem cells, scientists say". LATimes.com. November 15, 2007. See http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-clone15nov15,1,1475443.story

Kaplan, Karen and Thomas H. Maugh II. "Monkey embryo cloned in major breakthrough". SeattleTimes.com. November 15, 2007. See http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2004015027_clones15.html
 
D'oh!

But mine has pictures.

Sigh. My bad.

S.A.M.? Wave your magic wand? Make this go somewhere? Thank ye.
 
But if we clone Spurious, shouldn't we also clone JamesR? Just to keep the natural ballance?
 
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