India clones second buffalo in three months

New Delhi, June 6 (PTI) Indian scientists Saturday said
they have cloned the world's second buffalo just three months
after the first one died of pneumonia within a week of its
birth.

The buffalo calf, named Garima, was born at 11 am IST at
the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal, and
weighs about 43 kg, the institute's Director A K Srivastava
told PTI.

"Garima is absolutely healthy and we are fully optimistic
about her survival. A two-member veterinary doctors' team has
arrived from the Haryana Agricultural University. Them apart,
our own veterinary doctors, led by KPS Tomar, are also looking
after her and we are taking all precautions to avoid any
mishap," Srivastava said.

The scientists adopted a more advanced technique than
that used in producing Dolly -- the sheep that became the
first mammal to be cloned. The 'hand-guided cloning
technique', perfected by the NDRI scientists, would allow
production of calves of a desired sex.

However, scientists have used tissue from foetus to clone
the calf this time instead of taking the tissue from the ear
of a female buffalo, as was the case last time. The first
cloned buffalo was born on February 6, which survived only for
a week.

India, according to Srivastava, has the largest
population of the best buffaloes in the world. However, the
percentage of elite animals is very low and there is a need to
enhance the population of these buffaloes. The cloning
technique is expected to address this gap. PTI