Scientists clone endangered species.

• Author: Mastny, Lisa

* Scientists clone endangered species: In October 2000, scientists with the Massachusetts-based biotech firm Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) announced that they had successfully produced the first clone of an endangered species, a humpbacked, ox-like creature called the Asian gaur. The embryonic gaur, dubbed "Noah," is also the first cloned animal to gestate in the uterus of another species--an Iowa dairy cow named Bessie.

Noah's creators hope their success will be a springboard to wider use of cloning in conservation efforts. Like many proponents, they view the technology not as a way to "play God," but as a tool to boost species numbers and ultimately redress past human wrongs against nature. By introducing the genes of dead individuals back into the population, says ACT scientist Philip Damiani, cloning can actually increase genetic diversity in species that may be at risk of inbreeding or other collapse.

To create Noah, Damiani and his colleagues followed the same gene-transfer process used to produce the sheep Dolly in 1996. They removed the genetic material from one of Bessie's eggs and replaced it with a single skin cell--complete with DNA--from a recently deceased male gaur. The modified egg was nurtured into an embryo and later implanted in the cow's womb. She was expected to give birth in November.

A number of scientists question whether cloning can be of practical value to global conservation. They fear it could be perceived as a technical fix for curbing species loss, and that its use could lull the public and policymakers into complacency about protecting the living individuals that remain. At most, they argue, cloning should be recognized as only one of many existing conservation tools, and used when other efforts to head off extinctions have failed.

Some conservationists also worry that the resources poured into cloning efforts--like those lavished on other high-profile captive breeding projects--might be...