Healthy ageing of cloned sheep

The health of cloned animals generated by somatic-cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has been of concern since its inception; however, there are no detailed assessments of late-onset, non-communicable diseases. Here we report that SCNT has no obvious detrimental longterm health effects in a cohort of 13 c...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sinclair, Kevin D., Corr, Sandra A., Gutierrez, Carlos G., Fisher, Patricia A., Lee, J.-H., Rathbone, Alexandra J., Choi, Inchul, Campbell, Keith H.S., Gardner, David S.
Format: Article
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2016
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38462/
_version_ 1848795617437941760
author Sinclair, Kevin D.
Corr, Sandra A.
Gutierrez, Carlos G.
Fisher, Patricia A.
Lee, J.-H.
Rathbone, Alexandra J.
Choi, Inchul
Campbell, Keith H.S.
Gardner, David S.
author_facet Sinclair, Kevin D.
Corr, Sandra A.
Gutierrez, Carlos G.
Fisher, Patricia A.
Lee, J.-H.
Rathbone, Alexandra J.
Choi, Inchul
Campbell, Keith H.S.
Gardner, David S.
author_sort Sinclair, Kevin D.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description The health of cloned animals generated by somatic-cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has been of concern since its inception; however, there are no detailed assessments of late-onset, non-communicable diseases. Here we report that SCNT has no obvious detrimental longterm health effects in a cohort of 13 cloned sheep. We perform musculoskeletal assessments, metabolic tests and blood pressure measurements in 13 aged (7–9 years old) cloned sheep, including four derived from the cell line that gave rise to Dolly. We also perform radiological examinations of all main joints, including the knees, the joint most affected by osteoarthritis in Dolly, and compare all health parameters to groups of 5- and 6-year-old sheep, and published reference ranges. Despite their advanced age, these clones are euglycaemic, insulin sensitive and normotensive. Importantly, we observe no clinical signs of degenerative joint disease apart from mild, or in one case moderate, osteoarthritis in some animals. Our study is the first to assess the long-term health outcomes of SCNT in large animals.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:34:56Z
format Article
id nottingham-38462
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:34:56Z
publishDate 2016
publisher Nature Publishing Group
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-384622020-05-04T17:59:43Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38462/ Healthy ageing of cloned sheep Sinclair, Kevin D. Corr, Sandra A. Gutierrez, Carlos G. Fisher, Patricia A. Lee, J.-H. Rathbone, Alexandra J. Choi, Inchul Campbell, Keith H.S. Gardner, David S. The health of cloned animals generated by somatic-cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has been of concern since its inception; however, there are no detailed assessments of late-onset, non-communicable diseases. Here we report that SCNT has no obvious detrimental longterm health effects in a cohort of 13 cloned sheep. We perform musculoskeletal assessments, metabolic tests and blood pressure measurements in 13 aged (7–9 years old) cloned sheep, including four derived from the cell line that gave rise to Dolly. We also perform radiological examinations of all main joints, including the knees, the joint most affected by osteoarthritis in Dolly, and compare all health parameters to groups of 5- and 6-year-old sheep, and published reference ranges. Despite their advanced age, these clones are euglycaemic, insulin sensitive and normotensive. Importantly, we observe no clinical signs of degenerative joint disease apart from mild, or in one case moderate, osteoarthritis in some animals. Our study is the first to assess the long-term health outcomes of SCNT in large animals. Nature Publishing Group 2016-07-26 Article PeerReviewed Sinclair, Kevin D., Corr, Sandra A., Gutierrez, Carlos G., Fisher, Patricia A., Lee, J.-H., Rathbone, Alexandra J., Choi, Inchul, Campbell, Keith H.S. and Gardner, David S. (2016) Healthy ageing of cloned sheep. Nature Communications, 7 . 12359/1-12369/10. ISSN 2041-1723 http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms12359 doi:10.1038/ncomms12359 doi:10.1038/ncomms12359
spellingShingle Sinclair, Kevin D.
Corr, Sandra A.
Gutierrez, Carlos G.
Fisher, Patricia A.
Lee, J.-H.
Rathbone, Alexandra J.
Choi, Inchul
Campbell, Keith H.S.
Gardner, David S.
Healthy ageing of cloned sheep
title Healthy ageing of cloned sheep
title_full Healthy ageing of cloned sheep
title_fullStr Healthy ageing of cloned sheep
title_full_unstemmed Healthy ageing of cloned sheep
title_short Healthy ageing of cloned sheep
title_sort healthy ageing of cloned sheep
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38462/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38462/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38462/