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Ageing

Cloning of mice to six generations

Nature volume 407, pages 318–319 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Mice have been cloned by nuclear transfer into enucleated oocytes1,2,3, and here we describe the reiterative cloning of mice to four and six generations in two independent lines. Successive generations showed no signs of prematureageing, as judged by gross behaviouralparameters, and there was no evidence of shortening of telomeres at the ends of chromosomes, normally an indicator of cellular senescence — in fact, these appeared to increase slightly in length. This increase is surprising, given that the number of mitotic divisions greatly exceeds that of sexually produced animals and that any deleterious effects of cloning might be expected to be amplified in sequentially cloned mice. Our results offer a new approach to the study of organismal ageing.

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Figure 1: Telomere lengths in successive generations (G1–G5) of mice cloned from cumulus cells.

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Author notes

  1. Teruhiko Wakayama

    Present address: The Rockefeller University , 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York, 10021, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy and Reproductive Biology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, 96822, Hawaii, USA

    Teruhiko Wakayama, Kellie L. K. Tamashiro & Ryuzo Yanagimachi

  2. Department of Cell Biology, Institute for Virus Research, Kyoto University, Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan

    Yoichi Shinkai & Makoto Tachibana

  3. Life Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley , 94720, Cailfornia, USA

    Hiroyuki Niida

  4. Bekesy Laboratory of Neurobiology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, 96822 , Hawaii, USA

    D. Caroline Blanchard & Robert J. Blanchard

  5. Department of Veterinary Science, National Institute of Infectious Disease, Tokyo, 162-8640, Japan

    Atsuo Ogura & Kentaro Tanemura

  6. The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, 10021 , New York, USA

    Anthony C. F. Perry, Diana F. Colgan & Peter Mombaerts

Authors
  1. Teruhiko Wakayama
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  2. Yoichi Shinkai
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  3. Kellie L. K. Tamashiro
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  4. Hiroyuki Niida
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  5. D. Caroline Blanchard
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  6. Robert J. Blanchard
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  7. Atsuo Ogura
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  8. Kentaro Tanemura
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  9. Makoto Tachibana
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  10. Anthony C. F. Perry
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  11. Diana F. Colgan
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  12. Peter Mombaerts
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  13. Ryuzo Yanagimachi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Teruhiko Wakayama.

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Cite this article

Wakayama, T., Shinkai, Y., Tamashiro, K. et al. Cloning of mice to six generations. Nature 407, 318–319 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35030301

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