Scientists from the Laboratory of Reproductive Technology in Cremona, Italy, have succeeded in creating the world's first cloned horse. This follows the cloning of the first member of the horse family - a mule named Idaho Gem - by scientists from the University of Idaho, US, in May 2003.
Genetic tests have confirmed that the foal, which has been given the name Prometea, is biologically identical to the horse that she was cloned from. But her physical markings are different, as was the case with 'Cc' (copy cat) the cloned kitten, born in February 2002.
Prometea was created by fusing a skin cell taken from the mother, a Haflinger mare, with an enucleated egg from another horse. Hundreds of embryos (328) were created in this way, including some using cells from a male horse, but only 22 of these developed to the blastocyst stage. From these, four pregnancies resulted but only one of these survived to term. The scientists published their work in the journal Nature.
The scientists, led by Cesare Galli, believe that for the first time the gestational mother was also the animal that the genetic material was taken from. They said that this challenges the 'accepted wisdom' that a mother's immune system had to recognise a baby as different in order to sustain a pregnancy.
Galli said that being able to clone horses may be of interest to horse breeders, who could potentially clone champions. But he pointed out that being genetically identical to a champion is not the same as being a champion - other factors such as environment and training regimes also play a part. Regulations governing thoroughbred horses ban clones from competing.
Sources and References
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First Cloned Horse Announced
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World's first cloned horse is born
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Researchers give clone health warning
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World's first cloned horse is born from her sister's womb
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