Spider Goats, Glowing Beagles, & CopyCat: Key Moments in Cloning

By Sponsor in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 19, 2013 5:00PM

Since 1952 and the hatching of 27 tadpoles, cloning has been more than science fiction. It might not be in the news as much as it was with the birth of Dolly the Finn-Dorset sheep, but that doesn't mean researchers haven't been making huge (and adorable) strides in the science of reproductive cloning. The timeline below has some of the standout moments in the past 60 years of cloning research. Cows that produce human milk, anyone?

KEY MOMENTS IN CLONING

1952: Robert Briggs and Thomas J. King hatch 27 tadpole clones of Northern Leopard Frogs, thereby creating the first animal clones in history.

1986: Possibly the first cloned mammal is a mouse named "Dirty Sanchez," born in the Soviet Union.

1996: Dolly the Sheep is born in Scotland; she's the first mammal cloned from a somatic cell, or a non-embryonic cell of an adult animal.

2001: Scientists successfully clone human embryos on October 13th at Advanced Cell Technology, a biotech company specializing in regenerative medicine and cellular therapies.

2002: CopyCat, the clone of a calico named Rainbow, is born at Texas A&M; she is the first cloned pet and remains free of health problems that are typically found in cloned organisms.

2002: Clonaid, associated with the Raelian movement, announces a baby girl as the first human clone; an independent scientist called in to investigate debunks the claim as an "elaborate hoax."

2003: A Halfinger foal named Prometea is born after 841 attempts in the Laboratory of Reproductive Technology in Italy, prompting the Jockey Club of North American Thoroughbreds to prohibit future horse clones from entering their races.

2003: A Banteng calf is produced from the San Diego "Frozen Zoo" DNA of an animal that died 20 years prior; it is the first clone from an endangered species to live more than a week, and still resides at the San Diego Zoo.

2004: Little Nicky is the first commercially cloned cat, created from a beloved Maine Coon by pet gene bank and cloning service Genetic Savings & Clone (shuttered in 2006).

2006: CopyCat, the first cloned pet, gives birth to four kittens—one is stillborn, but the other three are healthy and free from problems that usually plague animal clones.

2005: Snuppy the puppy is born on April 24th in South Korea; his being the only successful birth out of 1,095 embryos and three years of work is owed to the notorious difficulty in cloning canines.

2007: Tetra, a rhesus monkey, is born at the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center; she's the first cloned primate, created through a process sometimes called "artificial twinning."

2009: A female clone of the extinct Pyrenean ibex is born and lives for 7 minutes; this is the first time a taxon has become "un-extinct," if only for a short amount of time.

2010: The University of Wyoming develops goats that produce milk containing spider silk protein for use in artificial tendons, eye sutures, bulletproof vests, and airbags.

2011: Chinese scientists generate dairy cows that produce human breast milk.

2011: South Korean scientists clone a beagle named Tegon, which glows under UV light.

2012: Beautifully preserved woolly mammoth remains are found in Siberia; should they contain living cells, it may be possible to finally create a living specimen of the long-extinct species.

For more clone action, tune in to Orphan Black, the new sci-fi clone thriller, premiering March 30th at 9/8c as part of Supernatural Saturday on BBC America.