In Russia, for the first time, a calf was cloned

Metro talked with the project manager

Dmitry Rogovitsky, Metro

In the sea of news about the coronavirus and the search for a vaccine against this scourge, reports about other discoveries of Russian scientists are lost. But the importance of one of them is difficult to overestimate. Researchers from Moscow State University and the Ernst All-Russian Research Institute of Animal Husbandry cloned a calf for the first time in the country.

A charming white cub with brown spots was born in early April and now lives on the territory of the Research Institute in the village of Dubrovitsy near Podolsk.

Photo: Russian Foundation for Basic Research.

– We used the somatic cloning method, – Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biological Sciences Peter Sergiev, one of the project managers, explained to Metro. – An egg from a non-reproductive cell of the body was transferred to an egg cell, and there it gave rise to a new organism.

According to the scientist, the essence of the experiment is not just to clone. This is already an accomplished stage, it is enough to recall Dolly the sheep, which the British received back in 1996.

– Now it is possible to edit genomes much more efficiently (a set of hereditary material enclosed in an organism cell. – Ed.). It's not just about calves. Similar experiments, but on mice, are put on stream at our institute. But this is the first time this has been done with a large animal.  

The goal is to get low–allergenic milk

A successful experiment with a calf opens the way for new experiments related to cloning animals with an altered genome.  

– One of the final goals of the project is to receive low–allergenic cow's milk, – Sergiev continues. – It will not contain the main allergen protein - lactoglobulin. In addition, animals will be more resistant to diseases.

How quickly it will be possible to achieve this is still unknown.

– By combining two methodologies – cloning and editing, you can effectively create animals with new useful properties. The timing depends on the biology of the animals. Pregnancy in a cow lasts a long time – almost like in a human. It is physically difficult to get a sufficient herd of cows to conduct experiments on them. In addition, when it comes to large animals, there is also a large share of luck in achieving a successful result. I think it should take at least a year for all the tools to work.

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