ChineseresearchershavepublishedapaperinthejournalNatureCommunications,reportingthesuccessfulcloningandsurvivaltothreeyearsofahealthyrhesusmonkey.Themonkey,namedReTro,istheworld'sfirstclonedrhesusmonkeytoreachadulthood.Thestudysuggeststhatapromisingcloningstrategyforprimateshasbeenfoundthroughreplacingatypeofcellthathelpsprovidenutrientstotheembryo,enhancingtheunderstandingofreproductivecloningmechanismsinprimatesandpotentiallyimprovingitsefficiency.Theresearchpaper,publishedonJan16,mentionsthatintraditionalcloningmethods,mostmammalshaveextremelylowlivebirthrates,rangingfrom1percentto3percent,withhighratesofembryoandnewbornmortality.Previousstudieshaveindicatedthatclonedpigletsandmicehaveshownabnormalplacentalstructurescomparedtothosederivedfromartificialinsemination,andbovineandsheepembryoshaveexperiencedfetallossesduetoplacentaldefects.TheChineseresearchteam—includingSunQiangandLiuZhenfromtheCenterforExcellenceinBrainScienceandIntelligenceTechnologyoftheChineseAcademyofSciences,alongwithLuFulongfromtheInstituteofGeneticsandDevelopmentalBiologyoftheChineseAcademyofSciences—establishedacellreplacementmethodthatallowedthesuccessfullyclonedrhesusmonkeytosurviveforovertwoyears.Sunandhisteamhavebeendedicatedtoprimatecloningtechnologyresearchforthepast10yearsandhaveachievedseveralsignificantbreakthroughs,whichhavehadaconsiderableimpactintheinternationalacademiccommunity.About20yearsago,SunstayedinthemountainsinXishuangbannaDaiautonomousprefecture,Yunnanprovince,forfouryears.Duringthistime,hespenteverydaywiththemonkeysonthemountain,observingandconductingresearch.Finally,onthedayofthe2007traditionalChinesesolartermBeginningofSpring,histeamsuccessfullyestablishedChina'sfirstgroupoftest-tubemacaques.ThiswasthefirstrepresentativeachievementofSunandhisteam,andaphotoofthefirsttest-tubemonkeyhasbeendisplayedonSun'sdeskeversince."SurvivingmacaquesobtainedthroughassistedreproductionmethodswerereportedintheUnitedStatesasearlyasthe1980s.Whetherit'screatingtransgenicandgene-editedmonkeysorconductingmonkeysomaticcellcloningresearch,masteryofassistedreproductivetechnologyinmonkeysisaprerequisite,"Sunsaid.In2017,theworld'sfirstclonedmonkeywasborninChina."Clonedmonkeys"werelistedasoneofthetop10popularscienceandtechnologytermsbytheNationalLanguageResourcesMonitoringCenterinChinaandwerealsoselectedbytheMinistryofScienceandTechnologyasoneofChina'stop10scientificadvancesin2018."Thistechnologycanpotentiallybeusedtoconstructnon-humanprimateanimalmodelswithconsistentgeneticbackgroundsandgenotypesforapplicationsinbiomedicalresearch,"Sunsaid."BothZhongZhongandHuaHuahavenowreachedsexualmaturity,areveryhealthy,livewithothermonkeys,andhaveproducedoffspringoftheirown,"Sunsaid.TheInstituteofNeuroscienceoftheChineseAcademyofSciences'non-humanprimateplatformislocatedontheremoteXishanIslandinSuzhou,Jiangsuprovince.Atjust30yearsold,Liubecametheyoungestteamleaderattheinstitute.Whentacklingthechallengeofcloningmonkeysin2017,Liuspentnearlysixmonthssittinginfrontofamicroscopeforuptosixhoursaday,manipulatingmouseembryosandhoninghisskillstocompletetheremovalofaneggcellnucleusinlessthan10seconds.Theveterinaryteamalsoworkedaroundtheclock,observingthemonkeys'menstrualcyclesandbirths.Newbornmonkeysneedtobefedeverytwotothreehours,evenatnight.Withoutmentalpreparation,it'schallengingtoperformthisjobwell.Duringthemostdifficulttimesattheplatform,onlysevenpeopleremained,buttheypersevered.Sunsaid:"Inpastyears,somemasterscameheretoseekemployment,applyingforbasicveterinarypositions.Iaskedthemtofirstbecomefamiliarwiththemonkeys.Asaresult,afteralittleoveramonth,theyleftbecausethelivingenvironmentwasnotconvenientenoughortheycouldn'tacceptstartingmonkeyveterinarytrainingfromscratch."Thenewbreakthroughinprimatecloningtechnologyhassparkedlivelydiscussionsinternationally.However,Sunandhisteamhavenotstoppedtheirefforts.JustthisweekhearrivedatamonkeyresearchbaseinYunnantoembarkonnewresearchendeavors.Editor:DisclaimerTheviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisarticlearethoseoftheauthor's,GMW.cnmakesnorepresentationsastoaccuracy,suitability,orvalidityofanyinformationonthissiteandwillnotbeliableforanyerrors,omissions,ordelaysinthisinformation.