Jurassic (Dog) Park?

By Amy Fernandez

Researchers from all over the world have jumped on board to study those two prehistoric pups unearthed from the Siberian tundra. Officially known as Tumat Dog and Tumat Puppy, they are the most well-preserved ancient mammals ever recovered, which is surprising for the obvious reason that puppies are far more delicate structurally.

Everything from their stomach contents to their parasites is being meticulously analyzed by heavyweight experts from a wide range of scientific disciplines with impressive research agendas. But none have grabbed headlines like Hwang Woo-Suk, that South Korean superstar of cloning.

His credits include several breakthroughs, including the world’s first cloning scandal back in 2006 after his groundbreaking stem cell research led to charges of fraud, embezzlement, bioethical violations, and a pretty drastic loss of professional credibility.

He’s bounced back from that and in recent years he’s been in the news for his dog cloning projects. He came to the cloning business as a veterinary reproductive specialist, which obviously gave him an edge in that department. Many researchers viewed dog cloning as impossible due to the complicated challenges posed by the canine reproductive system when Hwang debuted his cloned Afghan Hound ‘Snuppy’ back in 2005.

Snuppy heralded a new era of canine history and Hwang’s status as an animal cloning celebrity. Since then, it’s estimated that his company, Sooam Biotech, has produced at least 700 cloned puppies with price tags of about $100,000 each.  That hasn’t been his only iron in the fire. Last year Sooam entered a truly interesting partnership with the Chinese biotech firm BoyaLife to create the world’s first cloning superstore. Among other things, it plans to produce 100,000 cloned cattle a year for China.

Hwang’s a busy guy, but for a cloning expert the Tumet Dog discovery is simply too good to pass up. Their tissue is estimated to be 70-80 percent intact, making them an unprecedented treasure trove of ancient biological material.  Hwang has taken tissue samples from Tumet Puppy’s skin, muscle, and ear cartilage and his lab is currently analyzing DNA extracted from them to possibly clone an extinct Pleistocene canine.

The scientific community has expressed skepticism about this project, citing Hwang’s failed attempts to clone a woolly mammoth and an ice age cave lion. Maybe those didn’t work out so well, but he didn’t take no for an answer when his peers deemed dog cloning impossible.  And there is no question that Hwang knows his way around the dog cloning business. He’s also cloned wolves and coyotes. Most significantly, last year Sooam Biotech successfully cloned a Boxer puppy using biological material extracted from a dog that had died 12 days earlier.

Who knows, Jurassic Dog Park may be coming to your neighborhood sooner than you think!

Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=103485

Posted by chesliepickett on May 9 2016. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.