S. Korean biotech firm clones two puppies from fat stem cell

SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- A local biotech company said Thursday that it has successfully cloned two puppies from stem cells taken from the fat tissue of a beagle.

The feat by RNL Bio Inc., if confirmed, will mark the first time that fat stem
cells have been used to clone a dog.
Researchers said they took the fat tissue from the beagle, developed it into an
adult stem cell and used the derived stem cells to begin the cloning process. The
process involved a total of five dogs as surrogate mothers, one of which produced
two puppies named Magic and Stem.
Test results and pertinent DNA samples have been sent to Seoul National
University (SNU) for analysis and confirmation, with RNL aiming to raise the
success rate by utilizing the so-called induced pluripotent stem cell in future
endeavors.
"If future experiments make headway, new horizons will open for the treatment of
various incurable disease like dementia, diabetes and degenerative arthritis," a
company spokesperson said.
Using fat tissue to make stem cells can circumvent the moral controversy of using
human ova, as in past experiments carried out by disgraced cloning expert Hwang
Woo-suk. The former SNU veterinary professor claimed to have created embryonic
stem cells that had therapeutic properties.
The claim was proven false by a probe that found Hwang and his team had falsified
the test results.
Despite Hwang's failure to produce embryonic stem cells, he is credited with
creating the world's first cloned dog, Snuppy, in 2005.
yonngong@yna.co.kr