Cloned Dogs to Be Mated as Test

The world's first cloned dog will be mated with the world's second dog clone, in an experiment to see whether they can reproduce normally.

Snuppy, an Afghan hound who was the first dog to be created through a cloning process, will be mated later this year with second-in-line Bona, researchers in South Korea said.

Snuppy will celebrate his second birthday on Tuesday while Bona was born in June last year.

"Both Snuppy and Bona are healthy. The mating is aimed at learning about their reproductive capacity,'' said Kim Min-Kyu from Seoul National University (SNU), where the dogs were created.

Snuppy was cloned under the stewardship of now-disgraced cloning expert Hwang Woo-Suk. So far, the team has cloned one male and three female Afghan hounds.

Mr Hwang was hailed as a national hero in South Korea until a university inquiry ruled that some of his work on cloning embryonic human stem cells was fake.

He is now on trial for fraud, embezzlement, ethical breaches and other charges but has insisted he can still prove he created the first cloned human stem cells.

The work of his team in creating Snuppy has been verified by SNU and other authorities.

Source: Generef.com
SRM