THE ADVANTAGES OF CLONING
World expert Professor Irina Polejaeva discusses cloning in the agricultural industry
“One key benefit of cloning is that it allows you to introduce specific traits over just one generation. A desired trait may be caused by a specific DNA change and only be naturally present in one breed of cattle and lacking in another. However, we can design clones so that they have attributes from both breeds. For example, horn growth in dairy cattle can be a danger to other animals and those that care for the animals. To induce a lack of horns through a genetic path, you’d usually need to go through multiple generations of breeding, but alternatively we can edit the gene in cells prior to cloning to get this trait immediately. This helps to improve animal welfare as we can avoid farming practices like the dehorning procedure, which is when a calf’s horn buds are burned to prevent them growing.”