A special arctic wolf was born in China. Maya was cloned and carried to a Beagle bitch.
Beijing – Dolly the sheep is known to most people. It went down in history as the first cloned mammal. Dolly’s birth is now 26 years ago. In Germany, the term “cloning” still has a negative connotation. Many see it as an interference with nature. In other countries, meanwhile, animal cloning has become a business. For the price of a small car, customers can resurrect their deceased loved one. While the genes of the two animals are 99 percent identical, their appearance can still vary slightly.
In order to clone a dog, genetic material is taken from a body cell of the animal that is to be “copied”. This is injected into an egg cell from which the cell nucleus has previously been removed. This creates an embryo, which in turn is implanted in the uterus of another dog and carried to term by the latter. Pet cloning companies now exist in China, South Korea and the United States.
Beagle bitch gives birth to arctic wolf – Maya is one of 137 embryos bred
Sinogene is one of those pet cloning companies. Not only dogs are cloned, but also other animals such as cats or horses. Now the company has specialized in another field: the cloning of endangered species. The result of this is Maya, a cute little arctic wolf pup.
Arctic wolves are extremely rare. The subspecies of wolves is found in northern Canada and on the north and east coasts of Greenland. Although the wolves have no natural enemies and are safe from humans in their habitats, climate change could endanger their species in the near future.
The cloning of Maya has been a long process of “two years of arduous effort,” according to Sinogene CEO Mi Jidong, the company said at a press conference in Beijing. For this purpose, genetic material was taken from the mother wolf, who was also called Maya, from which a total of 137 embryos were grown in the laboratory t3n.de. 85 of these were successfully implanted in seven beagle bitches. Since there weren’t enough arctic wolves in captivity to implant the embryos in, the researchers turned to the hunting dogs. Because dogs and wolves still share enough genetic material, which makes it possible to carry the embryos to term.
Only one of the 85 embryos saw the light of day. Maya was born on June 10, 2022 in a laboratory in Beijing. Her genetic mother is long gone. The arctic wolf died of old age in Harbin Polarland, a wildlife park in northeast China.
Chinese pet cloning company aims to save GM seeds from endangered wild animals
According to Sinogene, it should not remain with Maya alone. As the company announced, the pet cloning company and Beijing Wildlife Park want to work together in the future, so they have entered into a partnership. With the help of cloning technology, Sinogene wants to contribute to the conservation of genetically modified seeds in rare and endangered wild animals. In the case of Maya, however, further investigations are pending for the time being. It must be clarified whether cloning could cause potential health risks, Sinogene said.
Research into clones is also in full swing in other countries. The University of Melbourne wants to use a cloning laboratory to revive the Tasmanian tiger. In Malaysia that could already be the case extinct Sumatran rhino will soon be brought back to life using frozen egg cells.
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