Date: October 8, 2000
Worcester, MA, – Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. announced today that it has reached an agreement with the Spanish Government to clone the extinct bucardo mountain goat. In January 2000, gamekeepers at the Spanish Ordesa National Park found the last bucardo mountain goat dead – killed by a falling tree. The Spanish government has agreed to Advanced Cell Technology (ACT)’s offer to use interspecies nuclear transfer cloning technology in collaboration with other scientific partners to clone the bucardo from tissue retrieved and preserved before the last animal was killed.
“In the past, extinction has meant that an animal is ‘gone forever’,” said Robert P. Lanza, M.D, Vice President of Medical & Scientific Development at ACT. “This agreement will begin the unprecedented process of recovering an extinct animal whose intact cell line is available for cloning.”
Dr. Lanza explained, “The Spanish government entered into this Bucardo cloning project with ACT after we expressed our dedication to conservation biology. We have demonstrated our ability to bring an endangered species to normal late stage fetal development using interspecies nuclear transfer technology and have also illustrated the capability of cloning goats that are closely related to the bucardo. With this level of experience and expertise, we are enthusiastic about engaging in this important project with the Spanish government and our partners.”
It became apparent in the spring of 1999 that the bucardo was irreversibly headed towards extinction. At that time, Spanish biologists including Alberto Fernandez and Jose Folch took a tissue sample from the last remaining bucardo, a female, to preserve the bucardo mountain goat’s cell line for the possibility of future cloning. ACT and its Spanish scientific partners will assist the regional Aragón government in its efforts to clone and maintain the bucardo.
Researchers will take adult body (somatic) cells from the tissue and fuse them with oocytes from goats that have had their nucleus removed. The resultant embryos will be transferred into goats which will then act as a surrogate mother to the first cloned extinct animal.
“It is necessary to create a ‘genetic trust’ of the intact cell lines of endangered animals,” explained Dr. Lanza. “It will be through such a genetic trust that interspecies nuclear transfer technology can become a successful conservation tool.”
The bucardo mountain goat (Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica) was native to the Pyrenees mountain range in northern Spain and had a distinctive thick coat to protect it from frigid mountain air. The bucardo had been listed as an endangered species since 1973, but officials had not been able to sufficiently end the poaching and habitat destruction that eventually led to the bucardo’s extinction. ACT has agreed with the government of Aragón, that the future cloned bucardos will be returned to their original habitat.
In a report published in the October 2000 issue of the peer-reviewed scientific journal, Cloning, ACT and its collaborators have described the first successful cloning of an endangered species, the gaur, through normal late-stage fetal development using interspecies nuclear transfer technology. An ordinary domestic cow is due to give birth to the baby gaur bull in late November. ”
This agreement demonstrates ACT’s commitment to both recovering extinct animals and rescuing endangered animals whenever possible,” Michael West, Ph.D. and President and CEO of ACT. “ACT is also collaborating with The Soma Foundation, which was founded to provide funding to zoo programs focused on preserving endangered species and which will specifically have a separate fund for research geared to the bucardo.”
ACT is investigating using interspecies nuclear transfer technology to rescue other endangered and extinct species like the panda, Indian desert cats and the bongo antelope.
ACT is a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing the applications of cloning technology in human medicine and agriculture.
The Soma Foundation is a non-profit organization created to help fund the research efforts of zoos and other institutions interested in cloning endangered species.
For additional background information and photographs please visit live media kit http://www.noonanrusso.com/www/act2/act2.html
Contacts:
Advanced Cell Technology, Inc.
Michael D. West, Ph.D. Chief Executive Officer
(508) 756-1212
Noonan/Russo Communications, Inc.
Renee Connolly (media) x227 or
Emily Poe (media) x221(212) 696-4455
European Contact – N/R London
Fiona Beckman
011-44-7598-601-122