Four cloned female mice sit on the gloved hand of researcher Teruhiko Wakayama inside a laboratory at the University of Yamanashi in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture. | TERUHIKO WAKAYAMA / VIA REUTERS
PARIS – There is a limit on how many times a mammal can be cloned before suffering “mutational meltdown,” Japanese scientists have discovered, after making 1,200 clones over two decades that started off with a single mouse.
The 58th generation of mice did not survive, establishing for the first time that mammals cannot be cloned an infinite number of times, the scientists said in a study published last month.
It had been hoped that this method, which involves making clones of other clones, might have a range of uses in the future, including saving endangered species or mass-producing animals for their meat.
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