Cloning germ cells from the ovaries of rabbits and human cells

Scientists at King's College University in London have announced the intention to replicate stem cells from rabbit ovaries and human cell nuclei.

Frozen animal embryos

Professor Chris Shaw, in charge of the team, confirmed that " these stem cells come from rabbits but are controlled by human DNA and are used only in the study of stem cell development and genetic diseases ."

Under British law, germ cells should not grow more than 14 days and should not be implanted in women's wombs. So Professor Shaw said he wanted to find alternative sources to produce ovules.

'Abundant fertility of rabbits is a very interesting thing, we can transfer human cells into rabbits ' rabbits, ' he explained. ' Legally, it is still unclear at present, but there are a few things we would like to argue with the reproductive organs and germplasm (HFEA) and hope for permission .'

Professor Shaw and colleagues at King's College have a partnership agreement with the group of professors Ian Wilmut, Roslin Institute d'Edinbourg, Scotland to duplicate human stem cells for the purpose of treating the disease. Professor Wilmut was the father of Dolly, the world's first cloned animal in 1996.

But the lack of ovule made their research difficult. Currently, their only source is ovules that are removed during in vitro fertilization.

Professor Shaw said experiments in mixing human DNA and rabbit ovule were carried out in 2004 by the Sheng Huizhen group of Shanghai Chinese medical universities.

This group claims that more than 100 live embryos are compatible with the early stage of embryonic development (five to seven days of age in humans).

So far, in the UK, only Professor Miodrag Stojkovic, Newcastle University's Institute of Genetics has succeeded in creating cloned embryos in May 2005.

H. DAO