Prague, Feb 9 (CTK) – Czech researcher Helena Fulkova has recently succeeded in producing genetically modified hamsters during her work stay in Japan, her father Josef Fulka Junior from the Czech Academy of Sciences, an expert in cloning himself, has told CTK.
Fulkova, from the Czech Institute of Molecular Genetics, was the first to succeed in cloning mice in the Czech Republic a few years ago. She left for Japan with the goal to produce the genetically modified hamsters.
Fulka said cloning of mice is more difficult than for example cloning of Dolly the Sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell in 1996.
He said each species is specific and the exact timing of the main step is crucial. It is a question of a millisecond and Fulkova can get it right, he added.
Fulka said cloning and genetical modification help people understand biological processes. The original hope of bringing a revolution to medicine in replacing biological tissues was overshadowed by the progress in stem cell research, but cloning may save critically endangered species, such as the white rhinoceros.
To save a species, the somatic cells of the surviving animals and an immature egg cell, an oocyte, must be available, which may be a problem, Fulka said.
He said protests of activists who consider cloning unethical are less frequent now, yet a new wave of them recently started in reaction to the news that Chinese researchers cloned primates.
From the technical point of view, cloning of people is possible even now. “It is a question whether it would be successful, but technically it seems possible. There is no reason why it should not be,” Fulka said.
Josef Fulka Junior is the son of Josef Fulka Senior who was the founder of Czech reproductive biology. Fulka Jr managed to develop oocytes without the nuclear DNA using a non-invasive technique.
