LynnG
02-06-2006, 07:49 PM
Cloning is Here to Stay!
The combined efforts of animal cloning leader ViaGen Inc. of Austin, TX and performance horse marketing experts Encore Genetics Ltd. (Weatherford, TX, USA) is set to present as many as 30 (thirty) cloned foals next year with foalings starting in February. The DNA source for the clones is described as being "six high-profile performance horses". Breed and discipline are at this time unannounced, although it has been reported that they are not of the Thoroughbred breed, the Registry for which remains resistant to anything but live cover techniques, regardless of the safety of animals and personnel. Royal Vista Southwest has provided the recipient mares for the process, and it is in Purcell Oklahoma that the foals will begin to be born next (2006) spring.
Just to add to the "clone melting pot", in a different project, it appears that there are a projected 9 (nine) clones of the Quarter Horse stallion Smart Little Lena due to be foaled next year at Texas A&M University (College Station, TX, USA). As we noted above, cloning equines is definitely here to stay, and we are glad to see pro-activity in the Registry world with Zangersheide leading the way in issuing registration documents. If this were to be coupled with micro-chipping, we suspect that it would go a long way to avoiding confusion and mix-ups once the clones themselves start to reproduce. It would seem logical to issue a Registration document with the same number as the originating DNA animal, plus a suffix indicating a clone. For example, with Smart Little Lena one might see clones identified with the Registration numbers 1565822(a); 1565822(b); 1565822(c) etc. Such an identification is going to be necessary, as once the male offspring have become sexually mature, any offspring produced by a clone will have identical DNA to an animal produced by the original cloned animal. This means that semen collected, frozen and subsequently used to breed mares cannot be differentiated from semen from the original stallion that was cloned. It would seem therefore essential that some form of "paper trail" be developed before too many cloned colts reach sexual maturity! Pro active would seem to be the way to be, not re active!
We will be interested to see what AQHA's response is, but at the moment it does not look promising - AQHA rule 227 specifically states:
227. HORSES NOT ELIGIBLE FOR REGISTRATION
(a)Horses produced by any cloning process are not eligible for
registration. Cloning is defined as any method by which the genetic
material of an unfertilized egg or an embryo is removed, replaced by
genetic material taken from another organism, added to with genetic
material from another organism, or otherwise modified by any means
in order to produce a live foal.The only trouble with this is that any offspring of a clone produced by normal breeding methods is not going to be eligible for registration, as a result of the sire or dam having been ineligible - even though clones are just "twins separated in time". It's going to be interesting...!
The combined efforts of animal cloning leader ViaGen Inc. of Austin, TX and performance horse marketing experts Encore Genetics Ltd. (Weatherford, TX, USA) is set to present as many as 30 (thirty) cloned foals next year with foalings starting in February. The DNA source for the clones is described as being "six high-profile performance horses". Breed and discipline are at this time unannounced, although it has been reported that they are not of the Thoroughbred breed, the Registry for which remains resistant to anything but live cover techniques, regardless of the safety of animals and personnel. Royal Vista Southwest has provided the recipient mares for the process, and it is in Purcell Oklahoma that the foals will begin to be born next (2006) spring.
Just to add to the "clone melting pot", in a different project, it appears that there are a projected 9 (nine) clones of the Quarter Horse stallion Smart Little Lena due to be foaled next year at Texas A&M University (College Station, TX, USA). As we noted above, cloning equines is definitely here to stay, and we are glad to see pro-activity in the Registry world with Zangersheide leading the way in issuing registration documents. If this were to be coupled with micro-chipping, we suspect that it would go a long way to avoiding confusion and mix-ups once the clones themselves start to reproduce. It would seem logical to issue a Registration document with the same number as the originating DNA animal, plus a suffix indicating a clone. For example, with Smart Little Lena one might see clones identified with the Registration numbers 1565822(a); 1565822(b); 1565822(c) etc. Such an identification is going to be necessary, as once the male offspring have become sexually mature, any offspring produced by a clone will have identical DNA to an animal produced by the original cloned animal. This means that semen collected, frozen and subsequently used to breed mares cannot be differentiated from semen from the original stallion that was cloned. It would seem therefore essential that some form of "paper trail" be developed before too many cloned colts reach sexual maturity! Pro active would seem to be the way to be, not re active!
We will be interested to see what AQHA's response is, but at the moment it does not look promising - AQHA rule 227 specifically states:
227. HORSES NOT ELIGIBLE FOR REGISTRATION
(a)Horses produced by any cloning process are not eligible for
registration. Cloning is defined as any method by which the genetic
material of an unfertilized egg or an embryo is removed, replaced by
genetic material taken from another organism, added to with genetic
material from another organism, or otherwise modified by any means
in order to produce a live foal.The only trouble with this is that any offspring of a clone produced by normal breeding methods is not going to be eligible for registration, as a result of the sire or dam having been ineligible - even though clones are just "twins separated in time". It's going to be interesting...!