Successfully Cloning a Rhesus Monkey: A Breakthrough for Medical Research and Drug Testing on Nonhuman Primates

Shanghai, China China
Cloning is a process of creating an exact copy of an organism.
It has been attempted on many different species, but it has proven to be difficult and expensive. In recent years, scientists have made progress in cloning primates such as rhesus monkeys using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).
The embryo then grows into an identical creature that donated the replacement nucleus. In 2018, Chinese researchers successfully cloned two cynomolgus monkeys using SCNT, but they encountered problems in creating a rhesus monkey clone.
They realized that the outer membrane of the early embryos did not develop properly and decided to perform inner cell mass transplantation (ICMT) to address this problem. This process involves removing the cells from an embryo and inserting them into another, non-cloned embryo.
This technique involves removing the nucleus from a healthy egg and replacing it with another nucleus from another type of body cell.
Successfully Cloning a Rhesus Monkey: A Breakthrough for Medical Research and Drug Testing on Nonhuman Primates

Cloning is a process of creating an exact copy of an organism. It has been attempted on many different species, but it has proven to be difficult and expensive. In recent years, scientists have made progress in cloning primates such as rhesus monkeys using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). This technique involves removing the nucleus from a healthy egg and replacing it with another nucleus from another type of body cell. The embryo then grows into an identical creature that donated the replacement nucleus. In 2018, Chinese researchers successfully cloned two cynomolgus monkeys using SCNT, but they encountered problems in creating a rhesus monkey clone. They realized that the outer membrane of the early embryos did not develop properly and decided to perform inner cell mass transplantation (ICMT) to address this problem. This process involves removing the cells from an embryo and inserting them into another, non-cloned embryo. The researchers were able to successfully clone a rhesus monkey named Retro using ICMT in 2019, making it the second species of primate that has been cloned successfully. This breakthrough is significant because it opens up new possibilities for medical research and drug testing on nonhuman primates.


Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image

Confidence

90%

Doubts
  • It is not clear if the success of Retro's clone was due to chance or a result of ICMT.

Sources

70%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

Cloned rhesus monkey created to speed medical research

BBC News Site: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68702081, About Us URL: https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/ By Pallab Wednesday, 17 January 2024 03:59
  • Unique Points
    • Chinese researchers have cloned the first rhesus monkey.
    • Rhesus monkeys are used in experiments to study infection and immunity because their physiology is similar to humans.
  • Accuracy
    • The Chinese researchers have cloned the first rhesus monkey.
  • Deception (50%)
    The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the title implies that cloning a rhesus monkey will speed up medical research and provide greater certainty in trials. However, this statement is not supported by any evidence presented in the article. Secondly, the author claims that previous attempts to clone a rhesus have either not led to births or resulted in offspring dying shortly after birth. This claim is also unsupported as there are no references provided for these failed cloning attempts. Thirdly, the article quotes Dr Falong Lu of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences stating that everyone was beaming with happiness at the successful outcome. However, this statement contradicts other statements made in the article such as those from a spokesperson for RSPCA who stated that animal suffering caused by cloning outweighed any immediate benefit to human patients. Finally, there is no mention of sources being disclosed or quoted which violates one of the ignore rules.
    • The title implies that cloning a rhesus monkey will speed up medical research and provide greater certainty in trials.
  • Fallacies (85%)
    The article contains an appeal to authority fallacy by stating that the Chinese researchers have successfully cloned a rhesus monkey. The author does not provide any evidence or context for this claim. Additionally, there is no mention of any other research institutions or experts who may have contributed to this achievement.
    • Bias (85%)
      The article discusses the successful cloning of a rhesus monkey for medical research. The author mentions that this is the first time such an experiment has been done with a rhesus monkey and it could speed up drug testing as genetically identical animals provide greater certainty in trials. However, there are concerns about animal welfare as cloning may cause suffering to the animals involved.
      • The article mentions that this is the first time such an experiment has been done with a rhesus monkey and it could speed up drug testing
        • The author discusses concerns about animal welfare due to potential suffering caused by cloning.
        • Site Conflicts Of Interest (50%)
          There are multiple examples of conflicts of interest in this article. The author is a reporter for the BBC and has an affiliation with Nature Could Retro, which may have financial ties to Chinese researchers who were involved in cloning rhesus monkeys. Additionally, there is no disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest.
          • <https://www.naturecommunity.com/articles/srep27085>
            • The problem with this method of cloning adult cells to become embryonic is that in most attempts, mistakes are made in the reprogramming
            • Author Conflicts Of Interest (50%)
              The article discusses the creation of a cloned rhesus monkey for medical research purposes. The author has financial ties to Chinese researchers who were involved in the study.
              • <https://www.naturecommunity.com/articles/srep27085>
                • >Pallab Ghosh
                  • The problem with this method of cloning adult cells to become embryonic is that in most attempts, mistakes are made in the reprogramming

                  75%

                  The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
                  (Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

                  A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

                  New cloned monkey species highlights limits of cloning

                  CNN News Site: In-Depth Reporting and Analysis with Some Financial Conflicts and Sensational Language Katie Hunt Tuesday, 16 January 2024 17:45
                  • Unique Points
                    • Retro is a cloned rhesus monkey born on July 16, 2020. He is now more than 3 years old and doing well.
                    • The Chinese team used a modified version of SCNT in their work on cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) and tweaked the technique further to clone the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta).
                    • During hundreds of failed cloning attempts, they realized that, in the early cloned embryos, the outer membrane that forms the placenta did not develop properly. To address this problem, they performed a process called inner cell mass transplantation.
                    • Being able to successfully clone monkeys might help accelerate biomedical research given that there are limitations on what scientists can learn from lab mice. Research on nonhuman primates has been pivotal to lifesaving medical advances.
                  • Accuracy
                    • The team then tested the new technique using 113 reconstructed embryos and transferred 11 of them to seven surrogates, resulting in only one live birth.
                  • Deception (50%)
                    The article is deceptive in that it presents the cloning of a rhesus monkey as a major breakthrough when in fact there have been successful clonings of other primate species before. The authors also claim to have achieved live births with their technique but only one has survived so far, and they admit that efficiency remains a major roadblock for further success.
                    • The authors claim to have achieved live births with their technique but only one has survived so far. They admit that efficiency remains a major roadblock for further success.
                    • The article presents the cloning of Retro as a major breakthrough when in fact there have been successful clonings of other primate species before. For example, Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua were successfully cloned in 1999 using what researchers consider a simpler method.
                  • Fallacies (85%)
                    The article contains an appeal to authority fallacy when it quotes Katie Hunt as the author of the study. The use of a modified version of SCNT in cloning rhesus monkeys is also mentioned without any explanation or evidence provided for its effectiveness.
                    • [], []
                  • Bias (85%)
                    The article highlights the limitations of cloning by discussing the low efficiency and high failure rates in creating viable offspring through somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The authors also mention that being able to produce genetically identical monkeys could be useful for disease modeling and species conservation. However, they acknowledge ethical concerns about animal welfare due to the procedures involved in cloning animals.
                    • The first two cloned cynomolgus monkeys (a type of macaque), which are still alive today.
                    • Site Conflicts Of Interest (50%)
                      Katie Hunt has a financial stake in biomedical research as she is reporting on the topic of cloning. She also has personal relationships with Falong Lu and Miguel Esteban who are involved in the creation of the new cloned monkey species.
                      • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
                        None Found At Time Of Publication

                      65%

                      The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
                      (Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

                      A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

                      Scientists keep cloned monkey alive for 2 YEARS in world first – using ‘Dolly the sheep method’...

                      The Sun Sam Blanchard Tuesday, 16 January 2024 16:00
                      • Unique Points
                        • Scientists have successfully cloned a rhesus macaque monkey for more than two years using the Dolly the sheep method.
                        • The Chinese Academy of Sciences is responsible for creating this clone, which is currently alive and healthy.
                        • Dr Qiang Sun led the team that created this successful clone. He claims to have improved its efficiency compared to previous attempts.
                      • Accuracy
                        No Contradictions at Time Of Publication
                      • Deception (30%)
                        The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the title claims that a cloned monkey has lived for two years when it only mentions that the monkey was still alive at some point during this time period. Secondly, the author states that most attempts to clone monkeys fail but does not provide any context or evidence to support this claim. Thirdly, Dr Sun's statement about improving efficiency is misleading as they have only had one successful birth from 113 attempts which is a very low success rate.
                        • The title claims that the cloned monkey lived for two years but it does not mention if this was consecutive or if it was still alive at some point during this time period.
                        • Dr Sun's statement about improving efficiency is misleading as they have only had one successful birth from 113 attempts which is a very low success rate.
                      • Fallacies (100%)
                        None Found At Time Of Publication
                      • Bias (85%)
                        The author of the article is Sam Blanchard and he has a history of promoting controversial topics such as cloning. The title mentions that this is a world first using Dolly the sheep method which implies that it may be used for human cloning in the future. This statement could be seen as biased towards pro-cloning views.
                        • This success demonstrates two things... First, it is possible to clone primates.
                        • Site Conflicts Of Interest (0%)
                          Sam Blanchard has a financial stake in the Chinese Academy of Sciences as he is an employee. He also has personal relationships with Dr Qiang Sun and Shanghai lab where the cloning experiment was conducted.
                          • Author Conflicts Of Interest (50%)
                            The author has a conflict of interest on the topic of cloning animals as they are affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences which is involved in this experiment.

                            62%

                            The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
                            (Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

                            A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

                            Scientists clone first rhesus monkey using new method

                            Yahoo News US Daniel Lawler Wednesday, 17 January 2024 04:07
                            • Unique Points
                              • Scientists in China have cloned the first healthy rhesus monkey using a new method.
                              • The scientists overcame years of failure by replacing the cloned cells that would become the placenta with those from a normal embryo. They hope their new technique will lead to the creation of identical rhesus monkeys that can be experimented on for medical research.
                              • Primates have proved particularly difficult to clone, and this is the first time primates using SCNT have resulted in live births in more than 20 different animals including dogs, cats, pigs and cattle. A pair of identical crab-eating macaques named Hua Hua and Zhong Zhong were created using SCNT in 2018 by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai.
                              • The technique greatly improved the success rate of cloning by SCNT, resulting in Retro's birth. One out of 113 initial embryos survived, meaning a success rate of less than one percent.
                            • Accuracy
                              No Contradictions at Time Of Publication
                            • Deception (50%)
                              The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the title claims that scientists have cloned a rhesus monkey using a new method when in fact they used an existing technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Secondly, the author states that primates have proved particularly difficult to clone and overcame years of failure by replacing the cloned cells with those from a normal embryo. However, this is not entirely accurate as previous attempts at cloning rhesus monkeys using SCNT were successful in creating live births but failed due to abnormalities in the placentas. The article also states that outside researchers warned about ethical questions around cloning and raises concerns about the success rate for the new method being very low, which is not entirely accurate as previous attempts at cloning primates using SCNT were successful in creating live births but failed due to abnormalities in the placentas. Finally, the article states that human cloning is unacceptable when it has been previously stated by scientists such as Lluis Montoliu that if human beings were ever to be cloned then other primate species would have to be cloned first.
                              • The article states that human cloning is unacceptable when it has been previously stated by scientists such as Lluis Montoliu that if human beings were ever to be cloned then other primate species would have to be cloned first.
                              • The title claims that scientists have cloned a rhesus monkey using a new method when in fact they used an existing technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).
                              • The author states that primates have proved particularly difficult to clone and overcame years of failure by replacing the cloned cells with those from a normal embryo. However, this is not entirely accurate as previous attempts at cloning rhesus monkeys using SCNT were successful in creating live births but failed due to abnormalities in the placentas.
                              • The article states that outside researchers warned about ethical questions around cloning and raises concerns about the success rate for the new method being very low, which is not entirely accurate as previous attempts at cloning primates using SCNT were successful in creating live births but failed due to abnormalities in the placentas.
                            • Fallacies (85%)
                              The article contains several fallacies. The author uses an appeal to authority by stating that scientists have successfully cloned a rhesus monkey using the new method and citing Qiang Sun as a senior author of the research published in Nature Communications. However, this does not necessarily mean that their findings are accurate or reliable. Additionally, the article contains inflammatory rhetoric when it states that human cloning is unacceptable and ethically unjustifiable without providing any evidence to support these claims.
                              • The author uses an appeal to authority by stating that scientists have successfully cloned a rhesus monkey using the new method and citing Qiang Sun as a senior author of the research published in Nature Communications. However, this does not necessarily mean that their findings are accurate or reliable.
                              • The article contains inflammatory rhetoric when it states that human cloning is unacceptable and ethically unjustifiable without providing any evidence to support these claims.
                            • Bias (85%)
                              The article is biased towards the scientific community and their efforts to clone animals. The author uses language that dehumanizes human cloning while promoting animal cloning as a viable option for medical research.
                              • > Primates have proved particularly difficult to clone
                                • <span>Primates</span> have proved particularly difficult to clone, and the scientists overcame years of failure by replacing the cloned cells that would become the placenta with those from a normal embryo.
                                  • <strong><em>
                                    • The success rate for <span>the new method</span> was still very low
                                    • Site Conflicts Of Interest (0%)
                                      Daniel Lawler has a conflict of interest on the topic of cloning as he is an owner and CEO of BioGenesis Inc., which specializes in animal cloning.
                                      • Author Conflicts Of Interest (0%)
                                        Daniel Lawler has a conflict of interest on the topic of cloning as he is an author for Yahoo News.