Local scientists clone cow for 5th time in world
1999. 2. 20
(Korea Herald)
By Yoo Cheong-mo Staff reporter

A group of domestic scientists have succeeded in cloning a milch cow, making Korea the fifth country in the world to duplicate animals, the Ministry of Science and Technology said yesterday. The research team, led by Prof. Hwang Woo-sok of Seoul National University, successfully gave birth to a hereditarily duplicated calf last Friday, using a cloned cell of a super milch cow, said the ministry. The female calf, dubbed "Young-long," was learned to have inherited all the superior hereditary characteristics from its mother cow, said Hwang. Young-long weighs 43 kg and is expected to produce three times as much milk as a regular cow, he noted. As a result of the latest success, Korea became the fifth nation to develop the animal cloning technology. The Roslin Institute of Britain announced in February of 1997 that it had succeeded in cloning a sheep, named "Dolly," after 10 years of research works. Since then, Japan and New Zealand have succeeded in cloning cows, while a mouse was successfully duplicated by U.S. scientists. Last December, professors at Seoul's Kyunghee University said they made a preliminary success in developing human cloning technology. "Prof. Hwang's team used the same technique as that of the Roslin Institute in reproducing the Young-long cow, ending the prolonged debate over its scientific reliability," said a ministry official. "He also contributed to upgrading Korea's bioengineering technology." Despite ethical controversy, the animal-cloning technology can be widely applied to the treatment of various human incurable diseases, researchers say. "The animal cloning technology will provide revolutionary changes in the treatment of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, cancers and other incurable diseases," said Hwang. "In addition, a large number of animals can be duplicated to provide hearts, livers and kidneys, among others, to ailing humans," he said, adding that it can also applied to preservation of animals in danger of extinction. Supported by the science ministry's "G-7" high-tech project, Prof. Hwang's team has worked on the cow cloning experiment over the past 12 years. Hwang, while revealing experiments on 25 other cloned cows are under way, said his team plans to distribute about 2,000 cloned cells to local farmers over the next three years.