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Dog cloning-no longer science fiction.

Author
Abstract
:

Since the generation of world's first cloned dog, Snuppy, in 2005, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) in dogs has been widely applied for producing several kinds of dogs with specific objectives. Previous studies have demonstrated that cloned dogs show normal characteristics in growth, blood parameters and behavioural aspect. Also, canine SCNT technique has been applied to propagate working dogs with excellent abilities in fields such as assistance of disabled people, drugs detection and rescue activity. Because dogs have similar habituation properties and share many characteristics including anatomic and physiological aspects with humans, they are also primary candidates for human disease models. Recently, transgenic dogs that express red fluorescent protein gene constitutively and green fluorescent protein gene conditionally have been generated. In addition, transgenic dogs with an overexpression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha in specific muscles were generated to enhance physical performance. In 2017, Snuppy was recloned with markedly increased pregnancy and delivery rates compared to the statistics from when Snuppy was first cloned. Such striking improvements in the cloning of dogs using SCNT procedures suggest that dog cloning could be applied in many fields of biomedical science for human diseases research, and the application of cloning is no longer science fiction.

Year of Publication
:
2018
Journal
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Reproduction in domestic animals = Zuchthygiene
Volume
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53 Suppl 3
Number of Pages
:
133-138
ISSN Number
:
0936-6768
URL
:
https://doi.org/10.1111/rda.13358
DOI
:
10.1111/rda.13358
Short Title
:
Reprod Domest Anim
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