Clones of the sheep ‘Dolly’ usually age – Milenio.com

A study led by scientists at the University of Nottingham, England, revealed that the four sheep cloned with the same genetic material of the famous Dolly age healthily.

the report, published Nature Communications and showed that the cloning process does not alter or impair the physical welfare of these animals,
concluded that the four cloned mammals met nine years and remain healthy and strong, notes that there are no signs of suffering from metabolic diseases.

Debbie, Denise, Dianna and Daisy known as Nottingham Dollies, are part of a group of 13 sheep from seven to nine years were conceived in a laboratory and monitored by a team of scientists from the University of Nottingham.

These four animals were created by through genetic material from the same cell line mammary glands that Dolly, which makes them, in practical terms, in clones of the famous sheep.

on July 5 they met 20 years since the birth of the sheep Dolly, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell and one of the landmarks most celebrated in the field of genetic research.

the famous sheep died on 14 February 2003 at six years old, after contracting a lung infection and suffering from osteoarthritis, a fact that made me think the scientific community that cloned animals were aging faster or growing lack of healthy conditions as good as those born with the natural biological process animals.

However, after conducting evaluations locomotor and analysis of the metabolic system of sheep studied, experts said that some suffer from mild to moderate osteoarthritis but none of them said any treatment.

professor Kevin Sinclair of the University of Nottingham, the author of which is the first long-term research on the health of cloned animals large expressed his satisfaction with the results.

“After tests glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity and blood pressure, we found that our clones, taking into account their age, enjoy good health” he said.

Sinclair said the cloning system Nuclear Transfer Somatic Cell, (SCNT for its acronym in English), laying created Dolly and four sheep in question, still has a “low efficiency”.

“improvements in this method may lead to the use of SCNT to generate stem cells for therapeutic purposes in humans are carried out and also to create transgenic animals fertile and productive, “he said.