Scientists have for the first time cloned a male buffalo calf using stem cells from the ear tissue of another two-week-old male buffalo calf.
Scientists at National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) in Karnal, Haryana, have for the first time cloned a male buffalo calf using stem cells from the ear tissue of another two-week-old male buffalo calf. The cloned calf, called Shresth, born on Thursday weighs 41kg.
Shresth is considered a breakthrough as his foster mother had a normal delivery. The embryo was frozen at -196 degrees Celsius in liquid nitrogen for a week and brought back to “active life” upon thawing at room temperature.
NDRI had, in the past, cloned two more buffalo calves, both females, but using conventional cloning techniques. The calves, which were born through a C-section, were produced using cells from the standard areas — foetus and embryonic stem cell.
The most recent clone, Garima, was born just four days before Shresth. However, their embryos were never frozen.
Shresth is the first male buffalo born using the “hand-guided cloning technique”, an “advanced modification of the conventional cloning technique” developed at NDRI.
“In the hand-guided cloning technique, the nucleus from the egg is taken by a hand-held fine knife so that the genetic material such as chromosomes, etc. come from single donor’s cell, that is, from one parent,” Rameshwar Singh, a scientist at NDRI, said.
The conventional cloning technique is expensive and involves de-nucleation of the cell which is done by micromanipulation. Here, the nucleus is taken from both the parents.
NDRI scientists said that the cryopreservation of embryos can be made part of the new cloning technique so that the embryos could be transported and used at several places.
NDRI director AK Srivastava said the technology could go a long way in helping faster multiplication of superior milch buffaloes in India.
He said the world’s largest population of buffaloes was in India and contributed to about 55% of the total milk production in the country.
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