Horse cloning
Horse cloning is only mastered by a handful of laboratories worldwide, notably in France, Argentina, North America and China.
The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI by its acronym in French) decided to ban clones from competition in 2007, before authorizing them in 2012.
[4] Equine cloning owes much of its development to the Belgian stud farm of Zangersheide, one of the pioneers of artificial insemination and embryo transfer.
According to Éric Palmer, a French biologist specializing in horse reproduction (who introduced ultrasound to mares and produced the first foal by in vitro fertilization),[5] the way for the use of cloning was initiated in the 1980s by veterinarian surgeon Dr. Leo de Backer.
According to Palmer, the ones that are interested are Alwin Schockemöhle, Jan Tops, Thomas Fruhman, John and Michael Whitaker, Willi Melliger, Jean-Claude Van Geensbergen and La Silla (in Mexico), among many others.
[8] That same year, with the support of Genopole, Éric Palmer founded Cryozootech, a company dedicated to preserving the genes of horses with exceptional performance, with a view to future cloning.
[10] The first successful attempt to produce a viable clone was made by the Italian laboratory LTR-CIZ, which gave birth to Prometea on May 28, 2003, a Haflinger foal carried to term by her mother, whose genetic copy she is.
Born 36 kilogram after a natural delivery and a full-term pregnancy in Laboratory of Reproductive Technology, Cremona, Italy,[11][full citation needed] At 2 months old, Prometea weighed 100 kg (220 lb)[citation needed] The name "Prometea" is the feminine form of Prometeo ("Prometheus" in Greek).
This is a purely commercial clone, aimed at obtaining a fertile genetic copy of a successful but castrated horse.
Professor Galli obtained 15% viable embryos for his second clone, Pieraz, compared with only 3% for Prometea,[28] the first horse, which required 328 attempts.
[36] Anne Ricard's study estimates that, in equestrian disciplines (show jumping, dressage and endurance) where geldings represent around 40% of competitors, the use of reproductive clones will enable a genetic improvement of 4% per generation.
[31] In the US and Argentina, requests for equine cloning come mainly from polo players (who allow their mares to play all the seasons) and Arabian horse breeders.
[10] Cloning can also be used to preserve rare breeds threatened with extinction,[38][39] but customers' motivations are essentially commercial.
[34] Nevertheless, the discovery of a perfectly preserved prehistoric foal in Siberia (in 2018) augurs well for cloning trials by Russian and Korean researchers, to resurrect extinct equine breeds or species.
[40] If the foal is the genetic copy of its donor, the question of the influence of the mitochondria that remain present in the recipient oocyte is still open.
The horse markings may vary, and the character, depending less on genetics than on the influence of the mother and upbringing, may also turn out to be very different.
[26] A few companies are known for their specialization in commercial equine cloning: ViaGen, Replica Farms, Crestview Genetics, Kheiron and Cryozootech.
[43] ViaGen was originally based in Texas in the United States, but the laboratory moved to Canada after the last American slaughterhouses closed in 2007, to source mare oocytes.
[25][57][58] France's national stud farms advise against banning clones from the various studbooks, arguing that this will ultimately drive the best gene pool abroad.
[10] Although in Belgium, Isabelle Donnay believes that commercial cloning of horses has not been very successful,[27] on a global scale, their numbers have clearly increased over time.
[19] In winter 2010, 56 clones were counted worldwide, produced by laboratories in Europe, the United States and South America.
[44] Dr. Éric Palmer, Cryozootech, France Dr. Éric Palmer, Cryozootech, France Poetin II Z (Zangersheide) Murka's Gem Gem Twist Alpha Z (Zangersheide) 2011 July 2012 2008 (success) Ratina Z Beta (Zangersheide) Ratina Z Gamma (Zangersheide) South America's first cloned horse Jazz Clone 2 Cruising Encore As Cold As Ice Beta Cocaine Beta Z 2016 Chilli Morning III (Trey) Chilli Morning IV (Quattro) Nintendo 64 According to various surveys, including one carried out by Cheval Savoir in 2009, horse cloning is generally poorly accepted by riders and horse professionals.
They believe it introduces unfair competition to "normal" horse breeders, while constituting a highly lucrative and ethically unacceptable activity.
It's just photocopies of the same horse", pointing to its low success rate and the risk of as yet unknown genetic disorder developing.
[37] Dr. Thomas Reed, who owns the private stud Morningside in Ireland, is also publicly opposed to cloning after the accidental death of his stallion Hickstead in competition at the end of 2011.
[91] Horse cloning, like that of other animal species, raises bioethical issues, since it involves a high mortality rate of embryos, fetuses and young foals.
The Swiss National Stud's ethics study reports "massive loss during gestation", with less than 1% of oocytes obtained resulting in a live foal.
[92] There are a large number of stillborn foals, deaths in the first few days after birth, immune deficiencies, and muscle and bone deformities.
[96] On 8 June 2005, a number of French farmers belonging to the Confédération Paysanne demonstrated in front of the Genopole d'Évry, Cryozootech's headquarters, to denounce the "seizure of living matter" and a future loss of genetic diversity, arguing that the development of cloning will eventually lead to the disappearance of the breeding profession.
[10] A number of specialists warn against the widespread use of cloning, believing that it will seriously damage the equine breeding industry, particularly in equestrian sport, by reducing demand for naturally-born foals.
