The use of reproductive cloning in endangered species part 3

Original Website:   Website title: Cloning Endangered species

Reproductive cloning technology may be used to repopulate endangered species such as the African bongo antelope, the Sumatran tiger, and the giant panda, or animals that reproduce poorly in zoos or are difficult to breed. On January 8, 2001, scientists at Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), a biotechnology company in Massachusetts, announced the birth of the first clone of an endangered animal, a baby bull gaur—a large wild ox from India and Southeast Asia—named Noah. Noah was cloned using the nuclei of frozen skin cells taken from an adult male gaur that had died eight years earlier. The skin cell nuclei were joined with enucleated cow eggs, one of which was implanted into a surrogate cow mother. Unfortunately, the cloned gaur died from an infection within days of its birth. The same year scientists in Italy successfully cloned an endangered wild sheep. Cloning an endangered animal is different from cloning a more common animal because cloned animals need surrogate mothers to be carried to term. The transfer of embryos is risky, and researchers are reluctant to put an endangered animal through the rigors of surrogate motherhood, opting to use nonendangered domesticated animals whenever possible. Cloning extinct animals is even more challenging than cloning living animals because the egg and the surrogate mother used to create and harbor the cloned embryo are not the same species as the clone. Furthermore, for most already extinct animal species such as the woolly mammoth or dinosaur, there is insufficient intact cellular and genetic material from which to generate clones. In the future, carefully preserving intact cellular material of imperiled species may allow for their preservation and propagation.

In April 2003 ACT announced the birth of a healthy clone of a Javan banteng, an endangered cattlelike animal native to Asian jungles. The clone was created from a single skin cell, taken from another banteng before it died in 1980, which had remained frozen until it was used to create the clone. The banteng embryo gestated in a standard beef cow in Iowa.

Born April 1, 2003, the cloned banteng developed normally, growing its characteristic horns and reaching an adult weight of about 1,800 pounds. He was nicknamed Stockings and, as of 2007, lived at the San Diego Zoo. Hunting and habitat destruction have reduced the number of banteng, which once lived in large numbers in the bamboo forests of Asia, by more than 75% from 1983 to 2003.

In August 2005 the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans, Louisiana, reported that two unrelated endangered African wildcat clones had given birth to eight babies. Their births confirmed that clones of wild animals can breed naturally, which is vitally important for protecting endangered animals on the brink of extinction.

Paraphrasing:

Reproductive cloning technology are able to be used to repopulate endangered species or animals like the Africna Bongo antelope, the Sumatran tiger, and the giant panda and more, or also the animals the reproduce very poorly in places such as the zoo or animals that have difficulties in breeding. On the date January 8, 2001, scientists at a biotechnology organization or company located in Massachusetts called Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), announced the birth of the first clone of an endangered species, which is a baby bull gaur- a large wild ox from India and Southeast Asia- named Noah. Noah was cloned from the use of nuclei of frozen skin cells taken from an adult male gaur who had passed away in the previous eight years. The skin cell nuclei were combined with nucleated cow eggs, one of which was inserted towards a surrogate cow mother. Unfortunately, this clone gaur died from an infection within its days of birth. Occurring in the same year, Italy successfully cloned an endangered wild sheep. There is a vast difference in cloning a common animal and cloning an endangered species because cloned animals need surrogate mothers to be developed into the cloned animal. The transfer and procedure of the embryo is very risky, and researchers are very eager to put an endangered animal through the severity of surrogate motherhood, opting to use non endangered domesticated animals whenever it is ready. Since cloning extinct animals bring out a very risky and hard procedure, it is even more challenging because the egg and the surrogate mother used to create and develop the cloned embryo that are not the same species as the clone that will develop into. This, for extinct animals species such as the woolly mammoth or even a dinosaur, there is an insufficient unbroken cellular and genetic material from which to create and develop clones. 

In April 2003 the ACT organization announced the birth of a healthy clone of a Javan banteng, which is an endangered cattle like animal native to Asian jungles. This clone was created from a single skin cell, taken from another banteng species before it passed away in the year 1980, which had been stored and remained frozen until it was used to create another clone. This banteng embryo gestated, or was carried in the womb, in a standard beef cow in Lowa.

Born in April 1 2003, this cloned banteng developed normally like their own animal self, growing into its characterics and reaching an adult size which weighs approximately 1,800 pounds. He had a nickname, which was Stockings, and as of 2007, lived at San Diego Zoo. One of the main issues of endangered animals, which are Hunting and the destruction of habitat and environment, have reduced the number of banteng species, which once lived in large numbers in the bamboo forests of Asia which was their natural habitat from the start, by more than 75 % from 1983 until 2003. 

In August 2005, another organization, the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans, Louisiana, reported that two unrelated endangered African wildcat have given birth to eight babies. This issue strengthen the idea that clones of wild animals can breed very naturally, which is dominantly important for protecting endangered animals on the tip of the iceberg of their extinction.

Source of website/paraphrasing: "Cloning." Genetics;Genetic Engineering. 2008, Paul J. Muhlrad, De Stasio Elizabeth A., RONALD COLE-TURNER, Ricki Lewis, "Cloning: Applications to Biological Problems." World of Microbiology;Immunology. 2003, COLIN BLAKEMORE;SHELIA JENNETT, "Cloning." Medical Discoveries. 1997, MICHAEL J. KUHAR, "cloning Vector." A Dictionary of Biology. 2004, and "cloning." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Ed.. 2014. "Cloning." Encyclopedia.com. HighBeam Research, 01 Jan. 2008. Web. 21 Oct. 2014. <http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/cloning.aspx>

Successful cloning contains of at least three essential and important components which are: 

1. DNA front he animal which will be cloned

2. A viable egg to receive the DNA from the cloned animal

3. A mother to carry a fetus in the womb from conception to birth

Most of the times, hundreds of embryos  and attempted pregnancies are needed to produce even just a small number of clones. Scientists does not have a good understanding towards endangered animals' reproductive physiology, which makes risk stakes way higher. Legal protections sometimes prevent the threatened species from doing the procedures. To recoup, researchers fuse the DNA of an endangered species with eggs from a closely related species and select the mother from the latter. However, some hybrid embryos often fail to grow and develop properly.

This diagram shows how reproductive cloning . In this picture we can see the procedure towards how in this case, how a lamb is being cloned.

Source: https://honchemistry.wikispaces.com/The+Three+Types+of+Cloning