Scientists report cloning monkey embryos

BEVERTON, Ore., Nov. 12 (UPI) -- A U.S. research facility has reported the ability to create cloned embryos from adult monkeys.

It is the first time that scientists have been able to create viable cloned embryos from an adult primate, The Independent reported. The findings will be in the latest edition of the science journal Nature.

The Oregon National Primate Research Center scientists report that they could extract stem cells from some of the cloned embryos, the British newspaper said. The scientists said they were able to stimulate the embryonic cells to develop into mature heart cells and brain neurons.

The work at the primate research center in Beaverton, Ore., was led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov.

Don Wolf, who ran the center before retirement, said the procedure was based on a microscopic technique that doesn't use ultraviolet light and dyes, which seemed to damage primate eggs.

"We could now produce cloned blastocysts (embryos) in the monkey at a reasonable frequency" to study the blastocysts, Wolf told The Independent.

The Oregon team, working with a group in China, reported it produced about 100 cloned embryos that were transferred into 50 female macaques but none resulted in a full-term pregnancy, Wolf said.