04/05/06 A horse is a horse

04/05/06 A horse is a horse

A horse is a horse. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line on Agriculture. Last Thursday owning a famous horse just got a little easier. The cloning of livestock is a relatively new science and now via a partnership with two companies it is taking the leap into the commercial market. Mark Walton, President of ViaGen, Inc. made the announcement. WALTON: Our scientific staff has collectively cloned more species and more total animals than any other company. And as of today, ViaGen has produced over 200 clones in three important livestock or animal species. To date our core business has been focused on livestock. In partnership with Encore Genetics, we are unveiling a global equine cloning enterprise and announcing the birth of several famous horse clones. This makes us, ViaGen and Encore, the first commercial entity in the United States to offer horse cloning services. And we are announcing the first commercially cloned mares in the United States. The legendary cutting horse Royal Blue Boon, a registered American Quarter Horse, became the first mare to be commercially cloned when a foal was born to a recipient mare on Royal Vista Southwest farms in Purcell, Okla., on Feb. 19, 2006. The foal was born healthy and continues to thrive on the farm where she was born. The companies are also gene banking. Walton explains WALTON: We are also gene banking DNA from a number of extraordinary horses. Through the efforts of Encore and one of their international partners, Cryozootech, we have banked currently the DNA of over 75 champion horses from multiple breeds and disciplines. When you have an amazing superstar of animal, you can make a twin of that animal through cloning. Walton says that these animals are not genetically manipulated in any way and in fact are identical twins of the original animal. This means that is possible to duplicate a genetically superior animal to extend its influence on a breed or species. The price for cloning a champion horse is steep. For the first clone the price tag is $150,000 with the second clone from the same animal priced at $90,000. The companies expect to commercially clone as many as 30 more horses during the next 12 months. In commercial livestock production, cloning has been used in sheep, hogs and cattle. Until now, horse cloning has been a scientific experiment. The subject of cloning beef for the food chain is still being reviewed. ViaGen and Encore Genetics are both Texas based business' who are continuing their work of cloning livestock.That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
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