For the first time stem cells from a cloned of a large complex mammal were obtained. In this case, a bovine. The Italian research was coordinated by Giovanna Lazzari (Laboratory of Reproductive Technology in Cremona), and conducted in collaboration with Cesare Galli, the researcher who cloned the bull Galileo and the horse Prometea.
Stem cells have been extracted from a structure called the neural crest that, in the embryo, is destined to form the nervous system and whose cells can give rise to those of cartilage, the bones of the face and skull, the vascular smooth muscle, the pigmented areas of the skin and some parts of the heart, as well as to those of the peripheral nervous system. Our study - notes Giovanna Lazzari - reinforces the notion that cloned embryos are in fact a valuable and useful source of stem cells and returns credibility and trust in this type of research after the Korean ordeal. And it is also important because it represents a model of the early development of the nervous system in mammalian embryos, both cloned and from fertilization.