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The National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) at Karnal in Haryana has successfully cloned a buffalo calf for the second time in the world. It is worth mentioning that the first buffalo calf was also cloned by the scientists of the same institute at Haryana. According to a spokesperson of the institute, the second buffalo calf named Garima was born on Saturday (June 6) through a caesarean operation.
The spokesperson, Rameshwar Singh informed that the scientists as Karnal institute had taken the donor cell from the ear of the mother buffalo for cloning the first calf but this time it has been extracted from the foetus. He also informed that the newly-born cloned calf is in normal condition and weighs 43 kg. The buffalo calf has been kept in the ICU (intensive care unit) under the continuous supervision of scientists, added Singh.
The first buffalo calf which was cloned earlier in February had died within a few days after suffering from a lung infection. Speaking on that, the spokesperson said that the institute does not want to take risk this time hence Garima has been put into ICU. The donor cell was taken form Murrah breed of buffalo, which has been successful in Haryana and other states as a high milk-yielding variety.
The scientist at NDRI claimed that hand-guided cloning technique has used for the buffalo calf. The researchers informed that the method was an advanced modification of the conventional cloning technique used in cloning sheep Dolly by scientists in a laboratory in Glasgow, Scotland. According to A.K. Srivastava, director of the institute, the new advanced technique developed by the Karnal scientists is less demanding in terms of equipment, time and skill.
