Future opportunities in livestock production and biomedicine from
advances in animal cloning
D.N. Wells, P.M. Misica and H.R. Tervit
Dairy and Beef Division, AgResearch Ruakura, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton,
New Zealand.
E-Mail:
Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production. 1998,
58: 32-35
Recent international advances in animal cloning technology have
enabled the production of offspring from cultured cells derived from
either embryos, foetuses or adults. When the current nuclear transfer
process becomes more efficient, there will be three main applications
for agriculture. These include: (1) the rapid dissemination of animals
with the desired genetic characteristics; (2) the use of cloning for
phenotypic evaluation of animals; and most significantly, (3) the
production of genetically modified animals. Nuclear transfer will be
combined with gene targeting technology to introduce precise genetic
modifications to the cultured cells in the laboratory, resulting in the
production of cloned transgenic farm animals. It is anticipated that
this will herald a new era in biotechnology, with opportunities to
generate animals for various biomedical applications and with modified
livestock production characteristics.
Keywords: NZSAPAB;
nuclear transfer; cloning; transgenics; sheep; cattle.
Last Updated 12-09-1998
