Researchers Report Using New Technique to Clone Sheep

British researchers said they have used a revolutionary technique to clone sheep for the first time and that their advance could revolutionize livestock breeding. The researchers report in today’s edition of the journal Nature that their method could be used to manufacture large numbers of identical animals that would produce genetically manipulated meat and milk on factory farms.

Ian Wilmutand and colleagues at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh grew cells from a sheep embryo. These cells were “totipotent,” meaning they still had the ability to develop into a whole animal. Genetic material, including the chromosome, was then removed from an unfertilized egg and discarded, leaving a living shell that has a blank space for a new genetic blueprint. The totipotent cell was then fused to the egg with an electric current.