Nisar Wani, who headed the world’s first camel cloning in 2009, is now replicating a few dozen each year at a lab in Dubai — a lucrative business in the Gulf region, where camels are revered and can earn enormous sums in beauty and racing competitions.
“These eggs are collected from the follicles of slaughtered animals. Wani indicated that they must mature in the lab for 24 hours before being used in cloning.
Animal cloning for reproduction employs a technique known as somatic cell nuclear transfer.
DNA is extracted from a camel egg cell and replaced with DNA extracted from the frozen body cell of a camel that is prized for some quality, such as speed or attractiveness. The egg then transforms into an embryo without the need for sperm.
Cloning animals is time-consuming and has a low success rate.
“From a hundred transferred embryos, we can expect five to ten pregnancies and three to six births,” said Wani. A former veterinarian with a doctorate in animal reproduction.
Wani stated that the Reproductive Biotechnology Centre in Dubai preserves and reproduces the cells of elite racing camels, attractiveness contest winners, milking camels, and prized males.
Additionally, it employs interspecies cloning technology to protect endangered species.
