Paris | Saturday
FRENCH researchers say they have scored a scientific first by cloning rabbits, a species considered until now one of the most difficult to replicate.
In biotechnology circles the rabbit is gaining particular attention because of its genetic make-up which is considered to be much closer to a human being than the commonly used laboratory rodent.br> ”Although our method still has a low level of efficiency, it has produced several (rabbit) clones now proven to be fertile,” said a statement from a team of French researchers published in the April edition of Nature Biotechnology magazine.
The scientists – including head researcher Jean-Paul Renard – from France’s National Institute of Agronomic Research made their breakthrough by modifying current cloning techniques.
Now that a rabbit embryo can be successfully injected into a DNA nucleus the scientists predict ”extending the use of rabbit models for biomedical research”. Since the birth of Dolly the sheep in 1997 at a Scottish lab, scientists have succeeeded in cloning all sorts of mammals, including a calf, a monkey and even a cat.- Sapa-AFP
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