Scientist who copied cat says cloning pets a ‘possibility’
Published: March 2, 2006
Twenty years ago, scientists published reports deeming it “biologically impossible” to engineer a clone from a fully-grown adult mammal.
But for the past few years, Mark Westhusin and his team of researchers at Texas A&M University have done just that. In 2001, they became the first scientists to successfully clone a cat.
Westhusin spoke Monday in the Life Science III auditorium to a group of students and faculty - most of them are in the departments of Animal Science and Food and Nutrition - on his cloning work and a possible trend of replicating domestic pets.
“When we made the announcement, I can’t tell you how many phone calls I got from people wanting us to clone their dog or cat,” Westhusin said. “It’s become a definite possibility.”
The team retrieved genetic material from a calico cat named Rainbow and was able to have a clone successfully birthed by a surrogate mother, resulting in a kitten called cc, or “copy cat.” The breakthrough made international headlines and was featured in several syndicated comic strips, including Jim Davis’s “Garfield.”
Westhusin said the motivation to clone an adult cat came after the birth of Dolly the sheep, the world’s first cloned adult mammal, in 1996. Since then, Westhusin’s crew has cloned pigs, a goat and two bulls.
The cloning success has not been all positively received, Westhusin said, as accusations of “playing God” and “violating the ethics of science” are constantly aired by critics. Westhusin said many people do not understand the motives of cloning.
“We are not doing this for the fun of it. There are benefits, there are reasons why we do it,” he said.
Through genetic engineering, Westhusin’s team has produced a disease-resistant Angus bull and was able to clone a white-tailed deer, an achievement Westhusin hopes will help protect endangered species. Westhusin said the team is currently working on engineering more disease-resistant livestock.
Laura Murphy, as associate professor of Physiology, said research like Westhusin’s is key in combating the dangers facing nature.
“Cloning may be a way to protect species that are nearing extinction,” she said. “It also could be beneficial in getting rid of horrible hereditary genetic diseases.”
Murphy, who is also a past president of the Sigma Xi scientific research organization that co-sponsored Westhusin’s visit, said cloning in itself also plays part in the evolution of science.
“It’s one of those subjects that raises a lot of questions,” she said. “That’s what science is about.”
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