U.S. Researchers Clone Calf From Cells of Dead Cow
Researchers at the University of Georgia announced this week that they had successfully cloned a calf from the cells of a cow that had been dead for 48 hours before her genetic material was extracted.
This is the first time a cow has been cloned from cells of a dead animals. European researchers last year announced they had cloned a sheep from cells taken from an animal that had been dead 18 to 24 hours.
The researchers claim that this will allow cattle producers to select the best beef stock from their herds to clone (since it is impossible to judge how suitable a given cow is for meat until after it has been killed).
Further down the road, this technique could allow for the cloning of cows from meat that is tested for low susceptibility to diseases such as Mad Cow.
Source:
Scientists Clone Calf from Dead Cow. Erin McClam, Associated Press, April 25, 2002.
Tags: Cloning, Cows, Genetic Engineering, Georgia, Sheep, United States