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Frozen Mice Cloned; This Guy Next?
Nuclear transfer technique revives genomes
By Kevin Spak
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Posted Nov 4, 08 9:20 AM CST
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(Newser)
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Japanese scientists have succeeded in cloning mice frozen as long as 16 years, leading them to predict that the technique could be used to resurrect the likes of woolly mammoths. The researchers found that frozen brain cells worked best, though brain cells haven’t worked when cloning live mice, and the nuclear transfer technique worked even though the cells had burst.
Mammoths may be the most likely extinct animal to benefit from the find, since they are typically found preserved in ice. But researchers cautioned that the “inevitably degraded” genetic material could make the procedure “impracticable.” Still, quipped one cloning expert, “There is hope in bringing Ted Williams back after all.”