Written by: Sophie-Anne Starr
Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is quite capable in becoming a very dominant mechanism in genetic management of precious individuals, breeds and species. SCNT has been given a potentially profitable industrial opening in companion animals, which is very distinct from the pharmaceutical and food trade. The role that companion animals play in the emotional lives of humans has allowed SCNT to be used in pet reformation.
In previous studies performed, dogs have been cloned but they have been limited to young large breed dogs. These studies raised the question of: could an aged small breed dog be cloned. So the latest study performed was the cloning of an aged (14years) small breed dog (toy poodle) using a large breed oocyte donor and recipient. The large breeds were used due to the fact that small breeds make it difficult to surgically implant the reconstructed oocyte in their small oviduct. The cloned and somatic cell donor dogs had identical phenotype and genotype, although the mitochondrial DNA was inherited from the oocyte donor dog. In the cloned and donor dog the telomere length did not differ significantly, there are two explanation of why this may have occurred. The cloned offspring did not inherit that telomere lengths from donor dog, they may have been inherited from the oocyte donor dog and could be related to different breeds having specific telomere lengths.
When investigated further somatic cell nuclear transferring could become very beneficially in many aspects of veterinary genetics. For example, increase production of certain animals that carrying desirable or valuable traits, increase endangered species populations, preserve genetic material of animals that have decreased prematurely and the list continues.
Primary Resource:
Jang, G, Hong, S, Oh, H, Kim, M, Park, J, Kim, H, Kim, D, Lee, B 2008, “A cloned toy poodle produced from somatic cells derived from an aged female dog,” Theriogenology, vol. 69, no. 5, pp. 556-563.
Secondary Resource:
Mastromonaco, G & King, W 2007, “Cloning in companion animal, non-domestic and endangered species: can the technology become a practical reality?,” Reproduction, Fertility and Development, vol. 19, no.6, pp. 748-761.
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