Collaboration Produces Clone of Endangered Species

Three groups have combined their efforts to successfully clone a wild bovine species from the forests of Southeast Asia, closely related to the domesticated cow. Two banteng clones were born to Angus cows in early April 2003.

The process began with the transfer of genetic material from the cell of one bovine species to another at a laboratory in Massachusetts operated by Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (ACT, Worcester, USA). Scientists transferred the DNA of frozen banteng skin cells that had been stored in the San Diego (CA, USA) Frozen Zoo into empty eggs from ordinary domestic cows. The embryos were then transferred to the Trans Ova Genetics (Sioux Center, IA, USA) research center in Iowa, where they were implanted into ordinary cows, which gestated the calves.

"The Zoological Society of San Diego founded a genetic bank of frozen tissue samples, known as the Frozen Zoo, more than 25 years ago,” explained Oliver Ryder, Ph.D., geneticist for the society. "At that time, we did not know how this resource might be used, but we knew it was important to save as much information about endangered species as we could.”

Advanced Cell Technology is involved in the research and development of stem cells and therapeutic nuclear transfer technology for the treatment of human disease. Trans Ova Genetics is involved in the collection and nuclear transfer of bovine embryos. Cross-species cloning is a new procedure to be used in the effort to save endangered species and represents an application of genetic technology unavailable until a few years ago.





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