To some, the two macaques playing in their incubator represent a big leap for science that could bring huge benefit to us all. To others, they are just the latest example of scientists going too far.
Either way, Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua are attracting global attention because they are clones - perfect genetic copies of each other, created artificially in a lab in China.
As primates, they have rekindled concern about how long it will be before scientists start cloning another type of primate: us.
For those who see this as a sci-fi nightmare, the team has bad news. “The barrier of cloning primate species is now overcome”, declared Dr Mu-ming Poo, co-author of the research and a director at the Chinese Academy of Science.
Happily, Dr Poo and his colleagues have stressed they have no interest in cloning humans.
They insist their goal is something far more wholesome: to create batches of genetically identical monkeys for use in the quest for treatments for human disorders like Alzheimer’s Disease.
That hasn’t assuaged fears that less scrupulous researchers will soon be mass-producing mad dictators, in a real-life version of The Boys from Brazil.
In truth, the hoopla over Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua is something of a joke, like their names. (The official name for China is Zhonghua – get it?)
To start with, they are not the first cloned primates. Those emerged back in the late 1990s using a technique which mimicked the way nature creates identical twins: a single embryo is simply split in two at a very early stage, and each half allowed to develop.
What makes the Chinese macaques scientifically notable is that they were created by a method more likely to lead to mass-produced clones suitable for lab tests.
Known as Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT), this first made headlines in 1997, when British scientists unveiled its first success: Dolly the Sheep, the first mammal to be cloned using cells from a fully-grown adult.
Unlike those in an embryo, the genetic instructions in such cells are easy to manipulate and easy to access. (Dolly’s were taken from her mother’s udder.)
The problem is persuading them to produce a clone of their original owner.
The cells in our bodies have all taken up specialist roles, so they must first be returned to their original state, able to take on any job.
Then the genetic instructions must be put into a cell capable of sustaining pregnancy that ends with the birth of the clone.
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The British team discovered ways of getting cells to return to being generalists, and ways of using their genetic instructions with an egg cell from another sheep, whose own instructions have been removed.
The combination was implanted back into a sheep and five months later, Dolly was born – a perfect genetic copy of her mother.
The breakthrough was hailed as the dawn of a new era in medicine. The researchers themselves talked of cloned animals genetically programmed to produce human proteins – like blood-clotting factors for treating haemophilia.
But along with fears of human clones came concern about the cloning process itself.
It emerged that Dolly was the product of hundreds of attempts to fuse the genetic instructions into an egg cell, followed by dozens of failed pregnancies.
Quite apart from the yuk factor, it was clear that SCNT would have to be far more efficient if cloning were to become big business.
That is where Dr Poo and his colleagues come in. Using chemicals and a deactivated virus to do the critical transfer of genetic instructions, they’ve found ways of boosting the hit-rate.
Yet despite all the high-fives, it remains desperately low.
When the team tried creating clones using cells from an adult macaque, they ended up with two live animals out of over 180 attempts and both died soon afterwards.
They did better by switching to cells from embryos, but it still took 79 cloned embryos implanted into 21 monkeys to end up with Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua.
As breakthroughs go, this one has failed to impress even some scientists whose research might benefit. “The numbers are too low to make many conclusions, except that it remains a very inefficient and hazardous procedure”, said Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, an expert of embryology at the Francis Crick Institute, London. “[I]t would have been far simpler to just split a normal early embryo into two”.
Still, there was plenty of upbeat talk about the ultimate potential of cloning, once these wrinkles have been ironed out.
Even using current techniques, scientists have been able to clone top-quality cattle to boost meat quality, re-create a dead cat, and think it could bring extinct species back to life.
Last year, researchers in Dubai created the first cloned Bactrian camel – a step towards preserving this critically endangered species.
But it is the medical applications that still arouse most excitement. Researchers talk of the benefits of testing new therapies on cloned animals, free of the genetic variability that can mask effectiveness. Being closer to humans than mice, cloned primates are of special interest.
Yet such soaring claims have been made countless times before. The reality is that genes have failed to live up to their billing as the key to the ultimate medicine cupboard.
Their influence on major diseases has proved far weaker than expected, and “gene therapy” remains a niche area of medicine.
As for cloning, the creators of Dolly the Sheep never did create those flocks of protein-making animals. The amounts they produced simply weren’t viable.
Cloned animals may yet prove useful as test-beds for new therapies for Alzheimer’s and the like.
What we really need, however, are better ideas to test in the first place. And they remain as elusive as cloned unicorns.
Robert Matthews is Visiting Professor of Science at Aston University, Birmingham, UK
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Twin-turbocharged%204-litre%20V8%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E542bhp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E770Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEight-speed%20automatic%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh1%2C450%2C000%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Arrogate's winning run
1. Maiden Special Weight, Santa Anita Park, June 5, 2016
2. Allowance Optional Claiming, Santa Anita Park, June 24, 2016
3. Allowance Optional Claiming, Del Mar, August 4, 2016
4. Travers Stakes, Saratoga, August 27, 2016
5. Breeders' Cup Classic, Santa Anita Park, November 5, 2016
6. Pegasus World Cup, Gulfstream Park, January 28, 2017
7. Dubai World Cup, Meydan Racecourse, March 25, 2017
All you need to know about Formula E in Saudi Arabia
What The Saudia Ad Diriyah E-Prix
When Saturday
Where Diriyah in Saudi Arabia
What time Qualifying takes place from 11.50am UAE time through until the Super Pole session, which is due to end at 12.55pm. The race, which will last for 45 minutes, starts at 4.05pm.
Who is competing There are 22 drivers, from 11 teams, on the grid, with each vehicle run solely on electronic power.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Civil%20War
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THE%20STRANGERS'%20CASE
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box
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Letstango.com
Started: June 2013
Founder: Alex Tchablakian
Based: Dubai
Industry: e-commerce
Initial investment: Dh10 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 300,000 unique customers every month
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014%20PLUS
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULTS
6pm: Mazrat Al Ruwayah – Group 2 (PA) $40,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner: AF Alajaj, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
6.35pm: Race of Future – Handicap (TB) $80,000 (Turf) 2,410m
Winner: Global Storm, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
7.10pm: UAE 2000 Guineas – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Azure Coast, Antonio Fresu, Pavel Vashchenko
7.45pm: Business Bay Challenge – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Storm Damage, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor
20.20pm: Curlin Stakes – Listed (TB) $100,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Appreciated, Fernando Jara, Doug O’Neill
8.55pm: Singspiel Stakes – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner: Lord Glitters, Daniel Tudhope, David O'Meara
9.30pm: Al Shindagha Sprint – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Meraas, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
Getting there
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
FIXTURES
Monday, January 28
Iran v Japan, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Tuesday, January 29
UAEv Qatar, Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Friday, February 1
Final, Zayed Sports City Stadium (6pm)
Teams
India (playing XI): Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami
South Africa (squad): Faf du Plessis (c), Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rudi Second
