Ralph was the first

cloned Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, c ...

rat. To give birth to Ralph, 129

embryo An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...

s were implanted into two females. One became pregnant and gave birth to three rats; Ralph was the first to be born. Ralph has been cloned for medical purposes requiring genetically identical animals including testing in impact of

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

and the environment in the development of many diseases, as well as to take away and modify genes, as well as to solve a problem with rat physiology. Cloned from an adult cell, Ralph was cloned by researchers from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

References

{{reflist 2002 animal births 2002 in biotechnology 2002 in France Cloned animals Laboratory rats Individual animals in France Individual rodents Old World rats and mice Yvelines