Zhong Zhong Hua and Hua is the name of the first successful cloned primates. Primates are mammals that became a member of the biological order Primates. In addition to monkeys, in this order also include lemurs, tarsiers, monkeys, and also human. The test results show that two long-tailed monkey cloning results have similar DNA as identical twins.
The success of this first Primate cloning is a remarkable achievement by biologists at the Neurosciences Institute, Chinese Academy of Science. They publish this great discovery in the journal of Cell which includes Journal Q1. Successful cloning of this monkey to the attention of the public the huge raises questions, namely:
Whether human cloning is getting closer?
In principle, with the successful cloning of a primate species, the technical limitations to do human cloning have been broken. But it was not as easy as imagined. Muming Poo, Director of the Institute of Neurosciences, Chinese Academy of Science says that tim ilmuwannya do not intend to do so. Too extreme and will certainly trigger counter in the community because of the ethical. Robin Lovell-Badge, a clone of Francis Crick Institute of London, also said that making human babies by cloning is reckless, the procedure remains inefficient and full of risks.
Because of this, Muming Poo mengklarifikasikan that monkey cloning research aimed at identifying the genetic disease important vision in humans. The fauna has a kinship with a man close to be very helpful in research, because the factors that diffuse in the mixed fauna non-cloning experiments be made complicated.
Scientific news about cloning is certainly not the first thing for us. In 1996, the public has an important historical record of the birth of Dolly which is the first mammal clone with the method of Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT). Research progress of science is constantly evolving, so that researchers around the world have managed to clone about 20 species of mammals, such as dogs, horses, pigs, rabbits, deer, cattle, and to the Primate as discussed in this article.Two identical twin clone monkey named Zhong Zhong Hua and Hua, source: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Professor Jose Sabelli, a researcher in the field of animal cloning from the Michigan State University reveals the research took a long time to successfully clone monkey. By applying the principle of SCNT at Dolly's previous, technique begins by introducing the nucleus of somatic cells (body cells) such as skin cell into an egg that has been fertilized and has been cleared of the chromosomes themselves. The egg will then contain a copy of the genome donors.
On pengkloningan monkeys, these techniques form a fetus but no pregnancy that lasted more than 80 days. It is dimungkinan that the transferred nucleus not programmed properly to support the development of the embryo. So do the modification by spreading two enzymes important to dispel memories of epigenetik genes in somatic cells (the cells that make up the tissues and organs). Because when using somatic cells, such as those derived from blood or skin, these cells tend to remember where they came from. The combination of enzymes it then return it to a State of early embryos where he can differentiate into any type of cell in the body.
Using SCNT is great progress because of the possibility of future scientists will be easier to use and reproduce the SCNT cloned animals in large quantities. It can also be more successful when combined with the techniques of gene editing CRISPR to research more about certain diseases or genetic mutation. The cloning approach could ultimately help save the endangered primate.
Read also the article the reader's Favorite Technology CRISPR – editor of Advanced Gene
- Nature. 2018. First cloned monkeys with technique that made Dolly the sheep. 553, 387-388.