Two monkeys have been cloned using the same technique that saw Dolly the Sheep cloned 20 years ago.
The genetically identical, long-tailed macaques, named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, were born in Shanghai.
They're the first primate clones made by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT).
Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua | Image: cell.com
This saw researchers remove the nucleus from an egg cell and replace it with another nucleus from differentiated body cells.
The reconstructed egg then develops into a clone of whatever donated the replacement nucleus.
Researchers say this'll make it "a realistic possibility" for labs to conduct research with customisable populations of genetically uniform monkeys.
Although a primate has been cloned before, Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua are the first using SCNT.
