The Chinese Academy of Science announced that Chinese researchers were successful in cloning two macaque monkeys with the same technique – somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) - used by Keith Campbell and Ian Wilmut of the University of Edinburgh in 1996 to clone a female sheep named Dolly.

Many years of effort led by postdoctoral fellow Zhen Liu, culminated at the end of last year in the birth of two genetically identical female macaques named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua. The names are created from the word zhonghua, meaning “Chinese people.”

The SCNT technique, unlike embryo splitting that can produce very few copies, theoretically can produce many copies from the same donor, a fact welcomed by scientists because the clones can potentially be used for medical research. Since Dolly, the scientific community has been able to clone many species including mice, cows, rabbits, frogs, pigs and other mammals.

SCNT consists of transferring a nucleus, containing a copy of the genetic code of the donor, from a mature body cell into an egg cell without a nucleus. Then the egg cell is chemically manipulated to force it to develop as if it has been naturally fertilized. When – and if - this embryo reaches a certain stage of development, it is transferred into a surrogate, which eventually gives birth to an animal with the same genetic code as the donor.

Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua. Source: Chinese Academy of SciencesToday’s announcement marks the first time a primate – man’s cousin – has been cloned, opening the door for researchers to better understand human diseases and, without a doubt, igniting a debate over the possibility of cloning humans in the future. Macaques are close genetic relatives to humans, so these monkeys are our analog lab animals for experimentation.

Darren Griffin, a professor of genetics at the University of Kent, said, "Careful consideration now needs to be given to the ethical framework under which such experiments can, and should, operate." He noted, critics will evoke "the slippery slope argument of this being one step closer to human cloning. However, the benefits of this approach are clear and cautious optimism is my personal response to this study. The study itself is very impressive technically."

The results of the research were published today in the Cell Journal. An abstract can be found here.