Earlier cloning techniques produced clones only for a few generations. Abnormalities eventually showed up. But now the techniques have been perfected, at least for cloning mice:
Japanese scientists have produced 26 generations of clones from a single mouse, the lead researcher said Friday, possibly paving the way for the mass replication of valuable livestock.
The team have so far produced 598 mice that are genetic copies of one original creature in an experiment that has so far been going for seven years, said Teruhiko Wakayama of the Riken Center for Developmental Biology.
Reliable methods for cloning over an extended number of generations could be a boon to farmers who have, for example, a cow that produces a lot of milk, or an animal that is expected to produce particularly high-quality meat.
Natural breeding does not guarantee that an animal's offspring will have the same qualities, but a clone is an exact copy.
"Our results show that repeated iterative recloning is possible," he said.
"I want to say we should be able to continue this forever. We will continue our study until we see the end of it," he said.
The study was published in the US-based journal Cell Stem Cell.
