Thursday, April 14, 2005
Practical cloning
Is this the first clone of a higher mammal for a commerical purpose?
Jax
The foal is a copy of a world endurance champion, Pieraz, an animal that has been castrated and was therefore incapable of normal reproduction.
The research was undertaken by genetic engineering labs Cryozootech of Evry, France, and LTR-CIZ of Cremona, Italy, where the foal is being kept.
The World's first horse clone Prometea, was produced by the same group of researchers in 2003.
The new clone, called Pieraz-Cryozootech-Stallion, was born on 25 February.
Pieraz, the donor of the genetic material used to create the foal, reached the top of his equestrian discipline in 1994 and 1996. He is owned by the Kanavy family of Fort Valley, Virginia, US.
Endurance riding involves racing at controlled speeds over distances of many tens of kilometres.
The sport is popular world-wide with a very keen following in the United Arab Emirates, where local horses are known for their stamina.
Currently, international rules do not permit artificial insemination, or any kind of fertility treatment, for the production of thoroughbred race horses.
This is not such a great restriction in flat racing because the champion horses of the turf are rarely castrated; the best stallions and mares will be sent to stud at the end of their careers to breed the next generation of top horses.
But the proponents of cloning say the copying technology could be useful in those sports frequented by animals that are often gelded at a young age and have no ability to reproduce normally.
Cryozootech has a bank of genetic material from more than 30 horses that have excelled in various equestrian disciplines, such as jumping and dressage. (Link)
