A cloned rhesus monkey has reached adulthood for the first time in history, and the unique primate is now over 3 years old, according to Chinese researchers.
Retro, who was born on July 16, 2020, was the only birth of 113 cloned embryos created by scientists at the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Developmental Biology and the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Its birth and development now mark a major milestone for cloning research, as described in the paper published in Nature Communications on Tuesday.
“We have achieved the first living and healthy cloned rhesus monkey, which is a huge step forward that has become impossible,” researcher Falong Lu told CNN.
Retro, a rhesus monkey using a new cloning method, is now 3.5 years old. Nature Communications /AFP via Getty Images
Retro was born using a slightly different technique than those that gave birth to Dolly the sheep, the first animal cloned by scientists in 1996 that became the standard model.
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences replaced the placenta of the cloned embryo with embryos produced through in vitro fertilization, a new technique to reduce defects that impair the survival rate when using embryos and surrogate mothers.
Using the new approach, the researchers created 113 cloned rhesus monkey embryos and were able to implant 11 of them into seven surrogates.
Retro is the first of its kind to reach adulthood, achieving a breakthrough in cloning research. Nature Communications /AFP via Getty Images Retro was the only one of 113 cloned embryos to be successfully born. Zhaodi Liao and others/Nature
The experiment resulted in two pregnancies, with Retro being the only birth after the other surrogate mother had twins who died at 106 days of gestation.
Clones tend to have extremely low birth and survival rates, as previous experiments have also resulted in only one or two births.
Last year, a rhesus monkey cloned using traditional cloning methods survived less than 12 hours, according to a paper published in Science Advances.
Given Retro’s age and health, the Chinese researcher’s work could set a precedent for future cloning of rhesus monkeys, the second primate species to have successfully duplicated.
The researchers believe their new method allowed Retro to overcome defects that often claim the lives of clones in the womb. Zhaodi Liao and others/Nature
The same Chinese team was responsible for the birth of two identical cloned cynomolgus monkeys that are still alive today and are over 6 years old.
“This research is proof of principle that cloning can be performed in different species of non-human primates and opens the door to new ways to improve efficiency,” said Miguel Esteban, principal investigator at the Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health of the Chinese Academy of Sciences told CNN.
“Cloned monkeys can be genetically modified in complex ways that wild monkeys cannot; This has many implications for disease modeling,” she added.
The research, however, is not without its detractors, as animal rights advocates and officials have examined the impacts of the procedure and tests on primates.
“Animal cloning requires procedures that can cause pain and distress, and there can be high rates of failure and mortality,” the UK’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said in a statement.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn