SHANGHAI — China has cloned monkeys using transferred DNA, possibly paving the way for human cloning.<br /><br />Nature reports that biologists in Shanghai have cloned two genetically identical macaques using the same technique that produced Dolly the Sheep.<br /><br />Somatic cell nuclear transfer involves taking the nucleus of a cell, which contains its genetic material, and injecting it into an egg that has had its own nucleus removed.<br /><br />The egg cell is then treated with enzymes to stimulate embryo development, just like a naturally fertilized egg.<br /><br />In all, the researchers created 109 embryos and implanted them into 21 surrogate monkeys, resulting in six pregnancies but only two live births.<br /><br />The macaques, named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, aren't the first primates to be cloned though — that distinction belongs to Tetra, a rhesus monkey created using a simpler embryo-splitting method.<br /><br />The Chinese team believes the monkey clones could be useful in medical research, specifically in the study of genetic diseases like Parkinson's or autism.
