Half-human, half-pig Snout-Warriors being made NOW by Taiwanese!!!

The Taiwaneses aren't just cloning PCs any more!!

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TAIWAN'S SCIENTISTS CLONE PIGS WHICH CARRY HUMAN DNA
AP, TAIPEI
April 20, 2002

http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2002/04/20/story/000013
2577

Taiwanese scientists have cloned pigs that carry
genetic material from both human and pig cells, a
breakthrough that might lead to new treatments for
hemophilia and other diseases, scientists said
Thursday.

The three female pigs, between two weeks and two months
old, were delivered by Caesarean section and were in
excellent health, the government-funded Animal
Technology Institute said.

To create the clones, scientists first had to transfer
genetic material from both human and pig cells into a
3-year-old pig, said Wu Shinn-chih (§d«H§Ó), a lead
researcher at the institute.

Scientists then took cells from the pig's ear and
injected them into the egg cells of other pigs to
create the clones, Wu said.

Clones can be created when the genetic material from a
single cell is injected into an egg cell that has had
its own genes removed.

Wong Chung-nan (¯Î¥ò¨k), the director of the institute,
said that five foreign organizations have successfully
cloned pigs, but that Taiwan is the first to clone them
from two cells, instead of a single cell.

After the cloned pigs grow to maturity, their milk is
expected to contain a human clotting factor that can be
used to heal people with hemophilia, Wong said. The
milk will also contain a pig protein that could prevent
baby pigs from contracting diarrhea, he said.

The Taiwanese institute is undertaking a four-year
research project to clone more pigs and produce
clotting and other medicines, he said.

It also plans to work with foreign scientific research
organizations to advance the cloning technology so that
it can be used to clone pigs whose organs can be
transplanted into human beings without being rejected,
Wong said.

Pigs are ideal for transplant because they can
reproduce quickly and their organs are of sizes similar
to those of human beings, he said.

Taiwan's government has encouraged biotechnology
research and hopes Taiwan will became a leader in the
field just as it did in the electronics industry.