India clones second buffalo in three months

Indian scientists on 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 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," Mr. 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...HinduNews