First Jersey cow cloned

A team of researchers at the University of Tennessee in the US has announced the birth of the world's first cloned Jersey calf, the third cow to be cloned using adult cow cells. Millie (short for Millennium), cloned using cells from her prize-winning mother, was born on August 23.

The scientists say they used a simplified version of the SCNT (somatic cell nuclear transfer) technique, which was used to create Dolly the sheep. Millie was born after 95 cloning attempts, compared to the 277 experiments involved during the cloning of Dolly. The team said they left out a step in the original protocol, in which the donor adult cell is induced into a 'quiet state' before the genetic material is removed. Other variations of the original 'Dolly method' have also recently been used to successfully clone pigs.