Despite significant advances in the field of cloning and the whole promise of this technology, it is still not sufficiently widespread. However, research and experiments continue. For example, recently, according to an article published in China Daily, a group of scientists from China with a special robot was able to clone a 13 piglets.
The experiment was conducted on the basis of Nankai University. In April this year, two sows were exposed in vitro fertilization procedure, and after 110 days they had healthy offspring in the form of 13 piglets. In the course of their research, the Chinese researchers used the classic technology of therapeutic cloning. It lies in the fact that in the process of transferring the nucleus of somatic cells to the “empty” egg cell without nucleus. While scientists under the leadership of Zhao Xun used a rather interesting addition to the existing scheme: they used a robotic micromanipulator for testing, analysis, and operations for removing the nucleus. The use of a robot helped not only to facilitate the process and to decrease the risk of cell damage during surgery.
In the preparatory phase, experts defined the minimum force which should make the robot arm so that the procedure was completed without complications. Scientists explain that their technology can be widely applied not only to cloning but also as an auxiliary method of reproductive technology for improvement of crops and animals and in the practice of medicine.
Chinese robot 13 cloned piglets
Vladimir Kuznetsov