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Frozen Mice Cloned; This Guy Next?

Nuclear transfer technique revives genomes

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 4, 2008 9:20 AM CST

(Newser) – 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.”

The head and tusks of a Mammoth, part of the 'Evolving Planet' exhibit, is displayed at the Field Museum March 7, 2006 in Chicago, Illinois.
The head and tusks of a Mammoth, part of the 'Evolving Planet' exhibit, is displayed at the Field Museum March 7, 2006 in Chicago, Illinois.   (Getty Images)
A stuffed mammoth excavated from ice in Siberia is exhibited in St Petersburg Museum.
A stuffed mammoth excavated from ice in Siberia is exhibited in St Petersburg Museum.   (Getty Images)
A worker displays white mice at an animal laboratory in this file photo.
A worker displays white mice at an animal laboratory in this file photo.   (Getty Images)
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