Japanese researchers say they have produced twin calves by cloning somatic, or non-reproductive, cells taken from an adult cow with unfertilized eggs. The two are the world's first calves cloned with the technique.
The Ishikawa Prefectural Livestock Research Center and the nearby Kinki University animal husbandry research group in central Japan said Monday calves had previously been successfully cloned through the cultivation of eggs with fertilized egg cells or somatic cells from a cow fetus.
The birth of the world's first calves cloned from adult cow cells is expected to spark the ethical controversy surrounding genetic engineering and cloning. The births mark the second time large mammals have been cloned from the somatic cells of the adult animals after the controversial birth of Dolly, the British sheep, was announced last year.
In this instance, as with Dolly, researchers are extolling the births as a breakthrough that will lead the way for breeding larger, better- quality cattle with superior-quality beef or milk-producing capacity.
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