The country’s first cloned Assamese buffalo was born at the Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes at Hisar in Haryana, according to media reports.
The cloned calf was born on December 22 last year, according to information disclosed by the research institute only recently.
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According to the experts, the calf named ‘Sach-Gaurav’ was cloned using ‘unique methods’ and was born through normal delivery to a Murrah buffalo.
Notably, the calf is also the first to be born in open field, some 100 kms from the cloning laboratory at the Hi Tech Sach Dairy Farm in Hisar, according to the research institute experts.
The Assamese buffaloes are found only in the north-eastern region and the CIRB aspires to conserve superior animals of all buffalo breeds.
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The cloned calf of the Assamese buffalo weighed 54.2 kgs and it was healthy at the time of birth showing all parametres normal.
According to scientists, the genotype of the calf was confirmed by microsatellite analysis and chromosome analysis.