First Commercially Cloned Mare Born

Scientists and veterinarians today (March 30) announced the birth of the first commercially cloned mare, created from the cells of champion cutting horse Royal Blue Boon. The filly, Royal Blue Boon Too, was carried to term by a recipient mare and was born on Feb. 19 at Royal Vista Southwest Farms in Purcell, Okla. Royal Blue Boon Too is one of several cloned foals that have been born in 2006--cloned foals have been born at Texas A&M University this spring. The first equine clones were born in 2003; mules in Idaho came first, followed by a filly in Italy. In 2005, the first commercially cloned horse was born, created from the genetic material of a champion endurance gelding. Registered Quarter Horse Royal Blue Boon is the all-time leading producer of cutting horses in the world. She earned $381,764 in her career, and her progeny have earned more than $2.5 million. The mare is 26 years old--long past her performance and breeding career--so her owner made the decision to have the mare cloned so that her genetic material could be preserved. Two companies, ViaGen and Encore Genetics, partnered on the project, and have continued to offer the opportunity to commercially clone horses. To produce a clone, a veterinarian takes a small tissue biopsy from the donor horse. He ships the cells to Viagen, whose scientists grow the cells in culture before performing nuclear transfer, where they take DNA from the donor cells and insert it into enucleated eggs (eggs from which the genetic material has been removed). The resulting embryos are grown in an incubator for several days, then a veterinarian places the embryos into recipient females as he would with any embryo transfer. Polejaeva assures that even though 26-year-old cells were used in Royal Blue Boon's cloning procedure, the genetic age of the clone is that of a foal. "During the cloning process, the age of the cell is reset, and therefore the life span of the animal will be the same as the genetic potential of that animal," she said....

First Two Commercially Cloned U.S. Horses Thriving

Livestock cloning company ViaGen, Inc. is partnering with equine marketing firm Encore Genetics to create the first commercial horse cloning operation in the country. Today the companies launched the new entity with announcements about the births of two famous horse clones and news of other pregnancies. The legendary cutting horse Royal Blue Boon, a registered American Quarter Horse, became the first mare to be commercially cloned when a foal was born to a recipient mare on Royal Vista Southwest farms in Purcell, Okla., on Feb. 19, 2006. The foal was born healthy and continues to thrive on the farm where she was born. She was joined soon after by a clone of the mare Tap O Lena, born at the same farm on March 9, 2006. Two clones of the famous mare Bet Yer Blue Boons are expected to be born any day. Including the foals announced today, seven clones of famous horses will be born this year. Many other pregnant ViaGen/Encore mares are due next year. The companies have also gene banked over 75 champion horses from multiple breeds and disciplines. "From the time I transferred the embryo into the recipient mare, these pregnancies were normal in every way and the births followed suit," said Dr. Jim Bailey, DVM and manager of Royal Vista Southwest, a breeding technology center in the heart of Oklahoma horse country. "The resulting foals were born normally and immediately stood to nurse. They bonded well with the recipient mares and continue to grow and play in the sun."....

Co. Produces Clones From Cutting Horses

A company that offers horse owners exact duplicates of their animals says it has successfully cloned two top-earning horses. ViaGen Inc. announced Thursday that two mares had delivered clones of top cutting horses, which are trained to help separate individual animals from cattle herds. The foals, born at a ranch near Purcell, were doing well, according to the Austin, Texas-based company. The first cloned horse was born in 2003 in Italy. In 2005, Texas A&M University created the first cloned horse in the United States. Elaine Hall of Weatherford, Texas, owns one of the horses that was cloned and said the foal is the image of its mother. "I can already see so many similarities from the original horse, a certain look about the eyes," she said....

Cloned horses latest move for controversial field

The company that cloned the first horse to be sold commercially said on Thursday it plans to market 22 similar animals before 2008, marking another step forward for the controversial technology. ViaGen Inc., based in Austin, Texas, said the mare was born on February 19 in Oklahoma, and predicted it would one day produce 100 cloned horses a year, each fetching about $150,000. The company‘s announcement comes three years after the first cloned horse was created by Italian scientists in 2003. A cloned calf can sell for as much as $82,000, compared to an average calf that costs less than $1,000. Even cloned horses carry a lofty price tag and The Jockey Club, which monitors thoroughbreds, does not allow cloned animals to race....

Thanks to Ol' Tick for the tip on this story.