Copy cat

A whole menagerie of animals (including sheep, mice, cattle, goats and pigs) have been cloned by transfer of nuclear genetic material into an enucleated cell. Now, in an Advanced Online Publication from Nature,Taeyoung Shin and colleagues demonstrate that cats (Felis domesticus) can be cloned too (Nature 2002, DOI: 10.1038/nature723).Shin et al. isolated fibroblasts from the oral mucosa of an adult male cat or primary cumulus cell cultures and fused them with enucleated cat ova; they then implan

| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share

A whole menagerie of animals (including sheep, mice, cattle, goats and pigs) have been cloned by transfer of nuclear genetic material into an enucleated cell. Now, in an Advanced Online Publication from Nature,Taeyoung Shin and colleagues demonstrate that cats (Felis domesticus) can be cloned too (Nature 2002, DOI: 10.1038/nature723).

Shin et al. isolated fibroblasts from the oral mucosa of an adult male cat or primary cumulus cell cultures and fused them with enucleated cat ova; they then implanted cloned embryos into a recipient mother. One kitten was delivered by caesarian section just before Christmas 2001, 66 days after embryo transfer. Analysis of seven unlinked, polymorphic, cat-specific microsatellite loci confirmed that the kitten really is a clone. The cloned kitten's coat colour patterning is not identical to the donor's, demonstrating the influence of non-genetic developmental factors.

Now that they can be cloned, cats may prove to have many more than nine ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • Jonathan Weitzman

    This person does not yet have a bio.
Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Photo of a researcher overseeing large scale production processes in a laboratory.

Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

Thermo Fisher Logo
An illustration of an mRNA molecule in front of a multicolored background.

Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with lipid nanoparticles

Thermo Fisher Logo
Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Explore a Concise Guide to Optimizing Viral Transduction

A Visual Guide to Lentiviral Gene Delivery

Takara Bio