Time picks cloned dog as top invention in 2005

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Snuppy, the first cloned dog, is the most amazing invention of 2005, Time magazine said on Sunday.

The puppy, a 5-month-old Afghan hound, was cloned at Seoul National University in Korea by a 45-person team led by Professor Woo Suk Hwang. Snuppy's genes are derived from a single cell taken from the ear of an adult Afghan, rather than the egg and sperm of a mother and father, Time said.

The technique used to create Snuppy, somatic nuclear cell transfer, was the same technique British researchers used to create Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal.

South Korea launched an ambitious project last month to become a global hub for stem-cell storage and research, hoping to cement its status at the forefront of cloning research. Stem cells are master cells in the body that can develop into any cell type.

Time's technology, science and health writers select inventions each year they believe may have a huge impact.

Other inventions featured in the magazine, due on newsstands on November 14, include a bicycle with a hydrogen-powered fuel-cell engine, a one-time use video camcorder, and a robotic cat that recognizes speech commands.