The world's first cloning of a dog has raised concerns that scientists are one step closer to replicating human embryos, despite the breakthrough pointing to treatments for currently incurable human diseases.
A group of scientists from Seoul National University last week unveiled their creation, a black and white Afghan hound named Snuppy that is genetically identical to its three-year-old "father."
But while geneticists hailed the breakthrough as a step towards beating human diseases, others called for a worldwide ban on human cloning, saying that the pup had brought the human eventuality nearer.
PHOTO: AFP
The achievement of the team led by Professor Hwang Woo-suk is considered so significant because many canine diseases such as diabetes, cancer, dementia and problems in heart muscles, hips and joints are similar to those in humans.
Professor Kong Il-keun, a cloning expert at Suncheon National University, said cloning dogs had immense clinical value because canines have 203 genes that can be used for studying human diseases while the pig has only 65.
King Chow, assistant professor of biotechnology at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology welcomed the latest advance, but warned that the scientific community needed to be on guard against possible human cloning.
"The development of the technology is a good thing in itself but how we monitor it and who we allow to use it will be of great importance," he said.
"If it has been done to help research and understanding of how humans developed from a single cell -- an area in which there are huge holes in our understanding -- then this is a very important development.
"But if it is to be taken further and applied simply to make multiple clones -- then I have strong objections."
In order to create Snuppy -- short for Seoul National University Puppy -- the team had to create 1,095 canine embryos that were transferred into 123 surrogate bitches resulting in three successful pregnancies.
One foetus miscarried but two others were delivered, including Snuppy on April 24. The other cloned dog died after 22 days from pneumonia.
Gerald Schatten of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Hwang's research planning and technology advisor, said the poor success rate justified a ban on human cloning.
"Because this again shows that reproductive cloning is unsafe and inefficient, we call for a worldwide ban on human reproductive cloning, which is also unethical," said Schatten,
Since scientists first cloned a sheep named Dolly in 1997, researchers have gone on to clone mice, cats, goats, pigs, mules, horses and deer.
But of all mammals, the cloning of dogs is technically the most challenging because of the difficulty of acquiring mature eggs.
Some experts say the cloning of a dog demonstrates that most of key techniques needed to clone humans are now available.
"Bring me human eggs, the necessary social consensus and legal permission and I can get you your replica within a year," said Park Se-pill, a senior researcher of Maria Biotech and a top cloning expert.
"In contrast to widespread public belief, cloning a human is much easier than cloning a cow or a pig," Park said.
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