Korean Scientists Cloned Black Cow from 10 Year Old Frozen Cell

Posted by Blog Lover

June 18, 2010

Cryogenics should get a boost from this story. Most think Ted Williams and others are off base, but this show people may be re born in the future.

A team of Korean scientists have cloned a black cow from a frozen cell, which was taken years ago from a now deceased animal ― technically "reviving" the dead cow through the newly born clone.

The team, headed by Professor Park Se-pill at Jeju National University, unveiled the research on Wednesday.

"Using frozen somatic cells, we established three pregnancies and one of them was brought to term last September. This research shows endangered species can be cloned even after their death," Park said.

He added that the technology could be employed to bring back extinct animals such as mammoths.

"If we can gain intact frozen cells from mammoths, we will be able to clone them via elephant ova. Given sufficient funds and the necessary material, I am sure that we will be able to easily clone them," Park said.

Disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk once tried to clone mammoths by obtaining frozen cells of the prehistoric animals, extinct for millions of years; but failed.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks was the procurement of mammoth cells. During his trial for embezzlement of state funds, Hwang said that his team even paid Russian gangsters for tissue samples from mammoths.

The cloning project of Park's team was sponsored by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and Jeju Province, which combined to offer 2.3 billion won ($1.9 million) to the university team.

Park basked in the spotlight after extracting human stem cells in 2000 for the third time in history. He is currently one of the leading embryologists in Korea after Hwang was discredited.

Hwang, who was once touted as the global pioneer in the potential-laden stem cell research, falsely claimed to have created human embryonic stem cell lines from patients in 2005.

The work raised hopes that several degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or diabetes could be overcome but the claims were later found to be a sham. As a result, Hwang became a scientific pariah although he has resumed his work in efforts to restore his reputation.

Following Hwang's downfall, a handful of experts including Park are now regarded as the most prominent scientists spearheading the country's stem cell research. Park is now awaiting permits from the government on using human embryonic stem cells.<a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2010/06/129_67745.html" rel="nofollow">Source</a>