eConsultant

In a Furry First, A Dog Is Cloned In South Korea

By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 4, 2005; A01

South Korean researchers said yesterday that they have created the world's first cloned dog: a playful black, tan and white Afghan hound named Snuppy.

The puppy, grown from a single cell taken from the ear of a 3-year-old male Afghan, marks a milestone in the race to fabricate genetically identical dogs for research and as companion animals.

The process of dog cloning remains highly inefficient, a reflection of how much scientists still have to learn about how to make mammalian offspring from single parents and without the help of sperm. Multiple surgeries on more than 100 anesthetized dogs and the painstaking creation of more than 1,000 laboratory-grown embryos led to the birth of just two cloned puppies -- one of which died after three weeks.

But the feat suggests that a market in cloned dogs, through which people grieving the loss of their favorite pets could order genetic duplicates, may not be as futuristic as some had thought. And by leapfrogging a seven-year-old, multimillion-dollar U.S. effort, the success has clinched South Korea's quickly growing reputation as a premier center for cloning and stem cell research.

Cloned dog embryos could make available the first canine versions of embryonic stem cells. Researchers could then test stem cell therapies that have been proposed for people and, perhaps, cure some dog diseases along the way.

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