Cloned buffalo calf dies of pneumonia

New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) Indian scientists Thursday said
they have cloned the world's first buffalo, but the calf died
of pneumonia within a week of its birth.

The calf, which was born on February 6 and was yet to be
named, died late Wednesday night, A K Srivastava, Director of
the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), told PTI from
Karnal.

The buffalo calf, the first to be produced in the world,
was cloned using a simpler but advanced version of a technique
employed in producing 'Dolly' - the sheep that became the
first mammal to be cloned.

The infection was caused due to complications at the time
of delivery, he said, but added that the cloning technique
itself was not faulty.

Dolly, which was cloned from an adult cell in 1996 and
revealed to the world seven months later, was put down in 2003
following a lung disease.

Srivastava said the institute was in the process of
producing two more clones with cell taken from female
buffaloes and the delivery is set for May and June.

The 'handguided cloning technique' perfected by the NDRI
scientists would allow production of calf of the desired sex,
he said.

The cloning of the buffalo calf was done by a team of
six scientists -- S K Singla, R S Manik, M S Chauhan, P Palta,
R A Shah and A George. PTI SM KM