Cloning technologies have been used for the first time to save endangered animal species. Already next month, scientists expect the birth of a calf gaur (a species of Asian ox), which was carried by an ordinary cow. The embryo itself was created in the laboratory from a cow’s egg and genes taken from the skin of a gaura.
This achievement appeared in the Sunday issue of Cloning magazine. According to one of the authors of the article, Robert Lanz, today Bessie’s pregnant cow is on one of the farms in Iowa, along with other less fortunate “competitors” who have not managed to carry an embryo and become famous throughout the world.
In fact, the embryos took root in three of the 32 cows, but at various stages of the experiment, scientists removed them for scientific purposes. The future newborn gaur was even given a name – Noah. If the experiment is successful, then other disappearing or already extinct species will follow the gauras.
Of course, the long-standing dream of scientists about the resurrection of mammoths preserved in the permafrost layer is unlikely to come true, although their close relatives, elephants, have survived on our planet, which could take on the role of surrogate parents. The fact is that DNA in mammoth cells is severely destroyed and cannot be restored, at least at the current stage of the development of science.
However, there are already real contenders for salvation using cloning technology. First of all, this is a bucardo – one of the types of mountain goat, which was found in the territory of Spain. The last member of this species died this year. His body was immediately frozen to preserve DNA that could be used if Noah was born safely.