The world's first cloned mouse has died of natural causes, aged two years and seven months. Cumulina was created using nuclear transfer - the 'Dolly technique'- by a team of scientists at the University of Hawaii Medical School. Her age corresponded to roughly 95 human years, according to a report by BBC News Online.
Cumulina (Latin for 'Little Cloud') got her name from the cell used to make her - a cumulus cell from an adult mouse ovary. Cumulus cells form a 'cloud' of support cells that surround and nourish the developing egg. The researchers, led by Dr Ryuzo Yanagimachi, transferred the genetic information of a cumulus cell to a donor egg from which the nucleus had been removed.
Cumulina was healthy and active all her life, and raised two litters. She will now be stuffed and displayed in as part of an exhibit in a new Institute for Biogenesis Research.
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Cloned mouse dies of old age
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First cloned mouse dies
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