Genetics

Idaho Gem, the world's first cloned mule

Birth of an identical genetic copy of a member of the equine family could mark the start of a new era in the wealthy world of horse racing

His birth may not have been accompanied by the fanfare that greeted Dolly the sheep, but Idaho Gem, the first cloned mule, is already causing a stir in the conservative and wealthy world of horse racing.

Born on May 4, Idaho Gem is an identical genetic copy of his brother, a champion racing mule called Taz, and the first clone to be born in the equine family.

Scientists had struggled to get clones of horses or mules to survive. The cells of clones either failed to divide properly, or the foetuses were rejected. Idaho Gem was made by inserting DNA taken from the skin cells of a mule foetus into an empty egg from a horse.

Gordon Woods and his team at the University of Idaho, who created Idaho Gem, found that increasing the amount of calcium in the solution in which the eggs were stored improved their chances of being carried to term.

Professor Woods says his team's success, reported today in Science, paves the way for cloning horses. "We actually think it will be easier to clone horses and that could have huge implications," he said.

If cloning horses becomes possible, genetic copies of great thoroughbreds that have long since left for the knacker's yard, or current stars like Alex Ferguson's Rock of Gibraltar could be made.

"There are great race horses and people put fortunes into trying to breed them," said Mark Binner, an expert in equine genetics at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket.

"But with traditional breeding, each time it is a shuffle of the genetic deck ... it is very hit or miss."

Cloning would strip out this uncertainty, giving a perfect copy of the thoroughbred.

If you could get a cloned horse into a race, there would certainly be money in it. Top race horses can earn more than £1m a year, and once their racing days are done, they can pull in even more money by going on the stallion circuit.

"The top fee for a mare to visit a stallion today is £250,000. And that stallion might see 150 mares each year. It is going to be making you somewhere between £15-20m a year," said Dr Binner.

Racetracks up and down the country are not going to be filled with cloned horses anytime soon, however. While the science may be all but cracked, regulations will bar clones from racing.

According to John Maxse at the Jockey Club, the body that governs horse racing in Britain, a horse created by artificial insemination, a category that includes cloning, would be barred from racing. So too would any horse born of parents created by the same method.

Apart from traditional conservatism, this is also to protect the vast and lucrative industry that wants to keep horse breeding just as it is.

"If you allowed this, you could have the potential for mass producing horses and that could cripple that whole industry across the world," said Mr Maxse.

There are also health reasons why cloning horses would be bad business, he said. "You run the risk of severely reducing the diversity of the gene pool, which weakens the breed itself. It is not the healthiest way to produce an animal."

Cloned horses would still be valuable, even if they are not allowed to race, says Twink Allen, director of the Equine Fertility Unit in Newmarket.

"Imagine if you had 10 cloned horses that you gave to 10 trainers. Whichever horse wins the race shows you who your best trainer is," Professor Allen said.

Clones would allow scientists to tease apart how much of a horse's performance is down to genetics, and how much is from training and feeding regimes. Clones would also allow better studies for equine medicines such as vaccines and antibiotics to be produced.

Prof Allen, who happens to be jockey Frankie Dettori's father-in-law, has mixed feelings about the birth of Idaho Gem. His group had been racing to be the first to produce a clone from the equine family for the past 18 months.

"I have to say the key drive until now has been scientific arrogance; we wanted to be first. I am feeling very cheesed," he said. "But they deserve great credit. I am just jealous as hell of them."

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