Attempts to obtain non-human primate clones have been unsuccessful so far. In April 11
Simerly et al. studied the outcome of somatic and embryonic cell nuclear transfer in 716 rhesus macaques oocytes. Although the nuclear transfers looked normal, the implant of 33 embryos in surrogates resulted in no pregnancies. To identify the molecular obstacles responsible for this failure, they used imaging and immunochemical techniques to examine basic embryonic cell structures and proteins. DNA and microtubule imaging showed disarrayed mitotic spindles with misaligned chromosomes. In addition, two of the key proteins involved in spindle pole assembly and functioning — NuMA and HSET...