Tetra (born October 12, 1999) is a rhesus macaque that was created through a cloning technique called "embryo splitting". She is the first "cloned" primate by artificial twinning, and was created by a team led by Professor Gerald Schatten of the Oregon National Primate Research Center. This was the first time this technique had proven successful in monkeys, although it is often used in cattle. Only two of the four embryos survived to a sufficient stage in which they could be implanted into surrogates, and Tetra was the only one to be delivered successfully after 157 days. It was thought that by producing identical primates, advances in human medical research could be made. A further four monkeys, cloned using this same technique were due to be born in May 2000.
The team at the Oregon National Primate Research Center working on the project was led by Professor Gerald Schatten, who described the process involved as "artificial twinning".
See also
- ANDi
- List of individual monkeys
- List of cloned animals