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- BEIJING (Agence France Presse) - Chinese scientists have successfully
produced an embryo of a giant panda using cloning technology, state media
reported Monday.
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- Scientists from the Chinese Academy of
Sciences (CAS) introduced the cells of a dead female panda -- an endangered
species -- into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit, and nurtured
the embryo for 10 months, the official Xinhua news agency said.
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- The cloned embryo now has to be placed
in the womb of a selected host animal, said Chen Dayuan, a scientist from
academy's Animal Research Institute.
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- If the host animal does not reject the
embryo, and the pregnancy proceeds smoothly, the scientists could create
the world's first cloned panda, he said.
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- The body cells the Chinese scientists
used were from the bone muscle, womb epidermis and mammary gland, with
the mammary cells achieving the best results, said Xinhua.
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- DNA analysis of the genetic characteristics
of the embryo showed it was a panda rathern than a rabbit, it said.
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- Inter-species cloning differs from intra-species
cloning -- in which both body and egg cells were taken from the same species,
which was used by a British scientist to clone Dolly the sheep in 1997.
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- Inter-species cloning is more difficult,
but biologists believe intra-species cloning is not practical in reproducing
rare animals because their numbers are too small to obtain eggs, said Xinhua.
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- Chen first proposed cloning a giant panda
in March 1997, and the original target was to do so within three to five
years.
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- The scientists now believe they can reach
the goal in a shorter time, Chen said in the report.
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- A low reproduction rate and dwindling
bamboo forests has led to a drastic reduction giant panda numbers. About
1,000 giant pandas now live in the wild and 100 live in zoos.
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