In 2002, Dr. Duane Kraemer led the first team in cloning a cat at Texas A&M University. Five years earlier, a group in Scotland used an adult cell from the mammary gland of a sheep and produced Dolly, the first cloned mammal. At that time, Kraemer had used cloning with embryo cells, but when Dolly was cloned, he changed from tumor cells to skin cells and produced “Second Chance,” a bull.

“Cloning Animals” is the topic of a November 27 Lyceum Speaker Series presentation at Lone Star College-Montgomery, featuring Dr. Kraemer, who will discuss the practical and ethical implications for cloning mammals by nucleus transfer. The presentation, which is also co-sponsored by the college’s psychology club, will take place from noon-1 p.m. in the college’s Recital Hall (Building H, Room 102), followed by a question-answer session.

Dr. Kraemer, D.V.M. and Ph.D., is a professor of veterinary physiology and pharmacology at Texas A&M University.

There was controversy at Texas A&M with the Missyplicity project, the effort to clone the dog, Missy, with private funding from her multimillion dollar owners, but Missy died and her clone has not become a reality. Dogs are a very complex species to clone. However, Texas A&M researchers were able to clone a cat named “C.C.” (for Carbon Copy).

The cat was cloned from Rainbow, a female three-colored cat, by transplanting DNA into an egg cell whose nucleus had been removed and then implanted into a surrogate mother named Allie. Over 80 embryos were produced, but only C.C. developed into a full-term pregnancy and was born Dec. 22, 2001.

C.C. has lived for more than 10 years and has a mate, Smokey. They live with their offspring with Dr. Kraemer and his wife, Shirley.

The Lyceum Speaker Series at LSC-Montgomery provides a variety of free lectures throughout the fall and spring semesters that are based on sociological, historical, economical, political, psychological, and spiritual views. All students, staff, and faculty, as well as community members, are invited to attend any Lyceum event throughout the year.
LSC-Montgomery is located at 3200 College Park Drive, one-half mile west of Interstate 45, between Conroe and The Woodlands. For more information about the college, call 936.273.7000, or visit www.LoneStar.edu/montgomery.

With 78,000 students in credit classes, and a total enrollment of more than 90,000, Lone Star College System is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area and the fastest-growing community college system in the nation. Dr. Richard Carpenter is the chancellor of LSCS, which consists of six colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, LSC-Tomball and LSC-University Park, five centers, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online. To learn more visit www.LoneStar.edu.