Cloned cow gives birth

A cloned cow has given birth to a healthy female calf at the Ishikawa Prefectural Livestock Research center in northern Japan, Japanese government officials announced last week. Other cloned mammals - including Dolly the sheep - have already reproduced, but this is the first reported case of a cloned cow breeding successfully.

'There have been arguments over the fertility of cloned cattle but the birth can be seen as a convincing answer', said Koichi Yamamoto, the centre's deputy director. Officials also said that the birth has brought scientists closer to realising practical uses for cloning, such as improving the quality and mass production of beef.

The cow's mother, Kaga No 2, and her twin, Noto No 2, were two of the world's first cows produced using the somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) technique, in which the genetic information of an unfertilised donor egg is replaced with that of an adult body cell. Noto No 2 is also pregnant, and is expected to give birth in September.