M A I N   N E W S

A lot of bull, but no one’s complaining
Bhanu P Lohumi/TNS

Karnal, March 19
In a major breakthrough in the dairy sector, the first male cloned buffalo calf with 100 per cent DNA of a quality bull has been produced by the scientists of the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal. As there is an acute shortage of quality bulls, the achievement can help reduce the demand-and-supply gap in the shortest possible time.

‘Swarn’, the cloned male buffalo calf, at the NDRI in Karnal on Tuesday.

The donor somatic cell used in this case was isolated from the seminal plasma of a bull which is currently being used for donating semen at the Animal Breeding Research Centre (ABRC). As such, the DNA of the calf would be 100 per cent identical with that of the bull and there would be no DNA characteristics of a buffalo.

The achievement is of particular interest to the scientists because, using the same approach, they now expect to create clones of quality bulls that might have died long ago, using their frozen semen available at the ABRC. Progeny test involves selection of top two offspring out of 30 to 40 over a duration of 7-8 years.

Praising his team of scientists, including Dr SK Singla, Dr MS Chauhan, Dr RS Manik, Dr P Palta, Dr Shiv Prasad, Dr Naresh Selokar and Monika Saini, NDRI Director Dr AK Srivastava said there was an acute shortage of quality bulls and the new achievement might help plug the gap between demand and supply of these animals in the shortest possible time.