Its Unbelieveable that Japanese researchers have produced a normal cloned of mice from cells taken out from bodies frozen for 16 years at -20 °C

Thawed out: the researchers managed to clone the mice even though their cells had burst (Source: National Academy of Sciences, PNAS)

Source: ResearchSEA
Many scientists have considered using cloning to resurrect extinct animals frozen in permafrost, such as the woolly mammoth. This has proven to be difficult because there are no live cells, and DNA is irreparably damaged by ice crystals.

Now cloning techniques may have progressed to the point where resurrection from permafrost could become reality. Teruhiko Wakayama at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe and co-workers have produced healthy cloned mice from cells that were frozen for 16 years at -20 °C without any preserving chemicals—simulating the conditions in permafrost.

Wakayama and his team adapted a common cloning technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Usually, researchers collect a single live cell of the donor animal and fuse it with a living egg that has had its own nucleus removed. However dead cells cannot be used for cell fusion, so Wakayama invented a new injection method in which the nuclei from dead cells are directly injected into the egg.

The researchers first performed SCNT on cells from mice frozen for a week. They found that frozen brain cells were the best donor nuclei and, surprisingly, the frozen cell nuclei yielded more healthy clones than living brain cells. It is possible that all the sugars in the brain protect cells from freezing damage. Furthermore, the freezing process might partly unravel the tight bundle of nuclear DNA, allowing the host egg to access the donor’s genetic code more easily.

The normal SCNT procedure failed to produce cloned mice from bodies frozen for 16 years, but the researchers managed to establish embryonic stem cell lines. The stem cell nuclei were injected into other eggs and transferred into surrogate mothers, leading to four healthy cloned mice.

This work represents the first successful cloning from bodies stored in conditions similar to the natural permafrost environment. Wakayama is hopeful that they could eventually produce clones from ancient bodies of extinct species such as mammoths.

Saeko Okada
Source: ResearchSEA
Further information: www.rikenresearch.riken.jp/research/641

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