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posted by n1 on Tuesday July 26 2016, @07:07PM   Printer-friendly
from the our-business-is-life-itself dept.

Scientists at the University of Nottingham have found that cloned sheep age normally and in good health. The scientists are monitoring 13 cloned sheep, including four that are genomic copies of Dolly, the first cloned animal:

The birth of Dolly in 1996 made headlines and captured people's attention as it provided evidence that a living creature could be completely cloned. Now, twenty years after Dolly's birth, a team of scientists led by the University of Nottingham have declared that cloned sheep age healthily after conducting the first long-term study into the health of cloned sheep.

The scientists performed cardiovascular and metabolic assessments, blood pressure measurements and musculoskeletal scans on 13 cloned sheep and compared the results to uncloned control sheep. Results show that all cloned sheep are healthy with no signs of metabolic diseases and have normal blood pressure readings. One sheep had moderate osteoarthritis - a joint disease that also affected Dolly and raised concerns of premature ageing.

The cloned sheep were between seven to nine years old - approximately equivalent to 60 to 70 in human years, according to the University of Nottingham. Kevin Sinclair, lead author of the paper and professor of developmental biology at the University of Nottingham said the sheep were healthy considering their age.

The cloned sheep have to die before their telomere lengths can be accurately measured.

Also at NPR.

Healthy ageing of cloned sheep (open, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12359)


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  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 26 2016, @10:02PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 26 2016, @10:02PM (#380472)

    I see the SN powers that be are now editing other people's posts. Oh well, the party had to end sometime.

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