CLONING AND PRESERVING RARE DOG BREEDS / KBS뉴스(News)
Like 0 Dislike 0 Published on 4 Dec 2019
[Anchor Lead]
The Korean native Sapsaree dog, also known as Sapsalgae is an endangered breed. A sapsaree dog that had been cloned from somatic cells two years ago gave birth to puppies who have grown up and are about to give birth to the next generation, raising hope of preserving the rare species.
[Pkg]
Confident and dignified... This dog has brown spots and much shorter hair than other dogs of its breed. Short-haired Badugi sapsaree dogs are an endangered native Korean breed. Only one in every 250 sapsaree dogs are born with short hair. There are only about ten of them in Korea now. The father of this sapsaree dog was cloned from somatic cells. In 2017, researchers from Chungnam National University cloned a male dog from the somatic cells of a short-haired sapsaree dog that was unable to breed due to azoospermia, a condition when male semen contains no sperm. This male dog was born one year ago through artificial insemination between the cloned dog and a regular sapsaree dog.
[Soundbite] KIM MIN-KYU(PROF., CHUNGNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY) : "There had been no cases of cloning infertile animals. The results of our research are unprecedented in the world."
One of the second-generation short-haired sapsaree dogs born through artificial insemination has become pregnant and is to give birth next month.
[Soundbite] CHUNG KYUNG-HOON(KOREAN SAPSAREE FOUNDATION) : "The sapsaree dog has been part of Koreans' life for centuries. If we restore the breed successfully, it can become a cultural asset of our nation."
The sapsaree dog used to be common in Korea, even appearing in Joseon-era paintings. But its population dwindled sharply because of overhunting by the Japanese colonists. With the successful cloning and natural breeding of the short-haired sapsaree dog, the species restoration of this native Korean breed could be just around the corner.