What are the recent breakthrough in bio-science?


Primate Cloning:
Though cloning is a debatable issue from the ethical point of view, it is quite necessary to study biological phenomena.


Primates, i.e. the family of apes (which include human beings too) have a very complex genome (genome is the total genetic information contained in a cell of the organism). Hence cloning primates is very difficult. However a group of scientists at Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai, led by Mu-Ming Poo and Qiang Sun have successfully cloned two healthy monkeys of the variety Long Tailed Macaques named Zhongh and Huahua using the same principles used behind the cloning of Dolly the sheep in 1996. This is a first of its kind successful experiment.

The monkeys cloned will be studied respectively to conduct successful research work on human diseases in the near future, especially to study neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, etc. As humans belong to the same group as monkeys, i.e. Primata, and their genome is quite homologous, cure for human diseases or necessary treatments required can be discovered and formulated by studying other members of this group like monkeys. In that case human cloning would not be a necessity at all.

However that is not the only important aspect of this experiment.

Every cell when newly formed, functions in a specific way. Some cells provide protection, movement, support and insulation, some cells take part in chemical coordination and metabolisis in our body, etc. These cells are differentiated cells, i.e. they have already been differentiated to carry out specific functions. They are not at all like stem cells. A stem cell is an undifferentiated cell. It can form any kind of cell by gradual differentiation.

The main challenge in cloning primates was that the gene expression in the DNA with which work was being done, needed to be altered. Unblocking genes to convert this DNA (sampled from differentiated cells) to reprogram it into a stem cell DNA was necessary. Otherwise cloning wouldn't have been possible.

Scientist Qiang Sun figured out a chemical procedure by introducing two complexes in the sampled DNA to unblock all its genes and convert it into a stem cell DNA.
This is the most important aspect of this experiment. To convert a differentiated primate cell DNA into a stem cell DNA which can literally form anything is one of the biggest scientific achievements of this decade.
https://larixconferences.com/biotechnology/

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