In 2005, Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk managed to clone the first dog. As we get closer and closer to the idea of human cloning Snuppy brings along excitement and fear. The puppy will be used to research diseases since they have similar characteristics to humans. Snuppy was created at the Seoul National University, by using a cell from a young Afghan hound (1). He was then placed in the surrogate mother, a yellow Labrador. Dogs are very difficult to clone. The team was only able to create three pregnancies using more than 1,000 embryos transfers into 123 recipients (1). One surrogate suffered a miscarriage, another died of pneumonia at 22 months leaving Snuppy as the success story. The chart above represents the process as to how Snuppy was created. The process is similar to the one Dolly the sheep underwent.
As more and more animals are being cloned moral concern arises. In situations such as these what is considered the ethical thing to do? Freda Scott-Park (President Elect of the British Veterinary Association) claims,"No one can deny that techniques that advance our understanding of diseases and their therapy are to be encouraged. But cloning of animals raises many ethical and moral issues that have still to be properly debated within the profession." (2)
Others like Dr Gerald Schatten (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine) believe that "it is possible, [to] responsibly develop the ability to derive stem cells from cloned dog embryos, that our very best friends may turn out to be the first beneficiaries of stem cell medicine." (2)
1. "USATODAY.com - Korean first to successfully clone a dog." News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World - USATODAY.com. 19 May 2009
2. "BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | S Korea unveils first dog clone." BBC NEWS | News Front Page. 19 May 2009
