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Re: [RC] Cloned horse different Color? - heidi

Thanks, Nicole, for a thoughtful and accurate post on the cloning topic. 
I would add one more thing, regarding the notion that the clone will only
be used for breeding.  Cash/Pieraz is a mixed-source horse, and as such,
is likely to breed quite a variety of offspring, rather than reliably
reproducing himself.  Contrary to Truman's comment about him being "a
proven line" he is not a "line" at all but rather a combination of lines. 
He is instead a proven individual.  There is considerable difference in a
genetic context.

My prediction is that if this particular clone is indeed bred, he will be
very inconsistent as a sire--and when that happens, folks will come out of
the woodwork once again saying that breeding is a crap shoot.  And in
actuality, if he reproduces that way, it will be very much in keeping with
his breeding.  Hold that thought--let's see what happens in a couple of
decades...

Heidi

I thought Pieraz was a gray? This foal is chestnut.

That sure looked like a grey foal to me.  Greys can
often be hard to tell in some foals, but that one
struck me as definately grey even in the small photos.

Interesting point though.  Why would cloning
adult cells reset the greying process to neonatal
status?

Would you rather the foal burst out of the mare as an
adult? ;)  Seriously, once the process has gone from
the cloned cell to an actual embryo I would expect the
rest of the process to work just like a "natural"
baby.  The hair of the foal, just like it's little
body & brain (& "soul" if you will) are those of a
newborn.

This is one of the peculiarities of cloning. Just
like with "identical"
twins, the same genes can manifest themselves
differently. I've seen
pictures of cloned cats who were different colors,
different markings, AND different sizes!

The cloned cats that I saw that were "different
colors" were actually both the same color, but the
markings were different.  This is because markings are
not entirely genetic in their makeup; they also have
an environmental/developmental aspect (in utero).
This is true of many traits, but is a known trait of
markings.  It's also a trait of size to some degree --
environment can certainly affect that as well (in
utero & later). :)

Will the colt even make it to 4 to do LD???

The article said he was destined entirely for
breeding.

 Does this lay in the term performance chemistry
enhancement? Horse or robot/

Robot???  Now, I'm not really a fan of cloning, but
the resulting cloned animal is a living, breathing
individual.  It's just not the SAME individual as the
one it was cloned from.

  rules say on flat track they have to be made
naturally. Would this fly for endurance?

The TB race world is in a world of their own when it
comes to antiquated rules & beliefs (not that I'm
saying they should endorse cloning).  I can't imagine
a cloned horse from an outstanding individual would
have any more advantage for endurance (or any other
performance sport) than an individual bred for that
sport from outstanding parents.

A couple web sites on cloning. The first, is the one
doing pet cloning currently.

I couldn't even go read that site, but pet cloning is
the aspect of cloning that probably bothers me the
most.  The cloned animal is NOT the same animal.  As
someone who loves my pets beyond reason, the idea of
cloning them sickens me.  The result would be a
different individual -- so why not just go get a
different individual?  What I love about my pets is
not what they look like -- and as discussed there's no
guarantee of that with cloning due to developmental
traits -- so why clone to create another life at such
expense when there are so many unwanted and abandoned
animals out there looking for homes?

As for cloning horses/performance animals, as I said
above I don't feel a cloned animal would have any
advantage over an animal bred from parents that are
outstanding in the chosen sport.

As for livestock, I think widespread use of cloning
(as I understand has been proposed in some species)
would contribute to limiting the genepool.  Not a good
thing to do to a breed or species.

Well, this got a lot longer than I meant it to go.  I
think the mention of pet cloning set me off. :)

~Nicole

*      Zephyr Arabians & KattWmn Web Design      *
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Re: [RC] Cloned horse different Color?, Zephyr Arabians