Mouse cloned from single drop of blood

Mouse cloned from single drop of blood

PTI: Scientists have for the first time cloned a mouse from a single drop of blood.

Researchers used circulating blood cells collected from the tail of a donor mouse to produce the clone. The female mouse cloned from a peripheral leukocyte proved to be fertile by natural mating, and lived for a normal lifespan, researchers said.

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, devised a technique to avoid the diminishing returns of recloning the same cell. Success rates increased from the standard three per cent in first-generation clones to ten per cent in first-generation and 14 per cent in higher-generation clones, researchers said.

Photo credit: AFP

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