Pregnancy: a cloned horse born to its dam twin.
Several animal species, including sheep, mice, cattle, goats, rabbits, cats, pigs and, more recently, mules have been reproduced by somatic cell cloning, with the offspring being a genetic copy of the animal donor of the nuclear material used for transfer into an enucleated oocyte. Here we use this technology to clone an adult horse and show that it is possible to establish a viable, full-term pregnancy in which the surrogate mother is also the nuclear donor. The cloned offspring is therefore genetically identical to the mare who carried it, challenging the idea that maternal immunological recognition of fetal antigens influences the well-being of the fetus and the outcome of the pregnancy.
Galli
Cesare
C
Laboratorio di Tecnologie della Riproduzione, CIZ srl, Istituto Sperimentale Italiano Lazzaro Spallanzani, 26100 Cremona, Italy. cesare@galli2.191.it
Lagutina
Irina
I
Crotti
Gabriella
G
Colleoni
Silvia
S
Turini
Paola
P
Ponderato
Nunzia
N
Duchi
Roberto
R
Lazzari
Giovanna
G
D000818:Animals; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D019976:Cloning, Organism; D005260:Female; D006736:Horses / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D018448:Models, Immunological; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D014427:Twins / Q000235:genetics