Background facts
- Cloning is a proven technology, both in cattle, but also in SA.
- It is not illegal in SA to clone any animal, as long as you are the owner.
- There is no cattle breed in SA that prevents the use of cloning to make embryos.
- It will be impossible to distinguish between conventionally made embryos and embryos made via cloning.
- Cloning is generally accepted to have lower success rates than conventional embryos it is very expensive and as such will probably have only limited commercial application.
- There are currently recipients impregnated with cloned Ankole embryos that will be offered for registration soon.
Advantages and Disadvantages of cloning animals
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Elite, high-value animals can be cloned | There is no genetic variation |
| Endangered animals can be cloned to preserve the species | Cloning success rate is very poor |
| One can preserve cells of special genetics for many years | Cloning is expensive and labour intensive |
The opportunities cloning presents to Ankole farmers
- Ensuring that unique genetic material (like the new imported genetics from Kenya) is preserved for future use in case the original animal dies before it could be used for breeding. It will be cheaper to just preserve (freeze) a genetic sample (piece of skin) of such a unique animal as insurance, rather than making an actual cloned embryo. [Fire Sky has just preserved such a sample from our new Ankole bull calf from Kenya that was born in September 2024. We will keep that sample until we are able to secure that bull’s genetics through a semen tapping in 4 to 5 years’ time.]
- Preserving proven top genetics currently in the national herd. There must be 5 to 10 top cows that are worth replicating (copying) like Merlot, Aura, Kyasha, Cleopatra, etc. Although such replacements will be genetic copies of the original cows, they may be ‘less identical’ in appearances than a set of identical twins, especially with regards to visible skin markings. The value of such an animal as well as the cost of making an exact copy of her would make it irrational for the owner to flood the national herd with such animals through cloning. [At Fire Sky we would consider to make a duplicate Kyasha through cloning in order to retain her phenomenal and proven genetic potential, especially as she may be nearing the end of her life.]
It is difficult to foresee a business case for the use of cloning to duplicate proven top bulls, simply because the economics of preserving a bull’s genetics through semen is a well-established industry practice and financially much cheaper than cloning.
- Duplicating (or multiplying) a cow of good genetic value even though she is still fertile and re-productive will be easy to do, almost impossible to stop (through enforceable rules) but again, the cost of making such copies through cloning, would make it an irrational commercial decision. Spending a lot of money to destroy the value of valuable genetics, could probably not be stopped, but can’t be a threat to serious Ankole farmers. It is worth remembering that it will always be easier to make multiple offspring through embryos than through cloning.
A practical Fire Sky example
We own Kyasha and at least 7 of her daughters, 4 of which are Kyasha – Maximus combinations. We have unlimited potential to multiply these genetics through flushing them for embryos, rather than having to clone them.
What can the Ankole Society do to manage cloning?
We should never fear progress or improved technology. Although cloning will not assist in broadening the very limited genetic pool of the SA Ankole herd, it could certainly contribute to preserve proven exceptional genetics, both of SA born cows as well as also of the newly imported genetics. As an animal born from cloning will be indistinguishable from one born naturally or through embryo transfer, it will be physically impossible to stop it from being registered, unless it falls foul of the herd selection criteria. However, the animal that was cloned would already have been registered!
If it is impractical to stop cloned animals from being registered, arbitrary rules to attempt to do it will surely not survive being challenged legally.
The fear that cloning will flood the market with additional animals is probably not founded. Previously having allowed embryo transfer as a herd expansion process, as well as the recent registering of over a thousand new Kenyan embryos imported into SA means that cloning will be a very expensive option available to Ankole farmers, but is not likely to have a significant impact.
Any attempts to limit, control or ‘manipulate’ the supply side of any market, especially in order to affect prices is illegal and will treated very seriously by the competition authorities in SA.
In conclusion: The current criteria for registering Ankole is adequate to accommodate cloned Ankole.
Article: The benefits and problems with cloning animals (click to open)
