The animal reproduction by the use of collected DNA material can potentially increase the profits from raising the animals, but we still don't know how safe is such genetic manipulation...
[Cloned mutts Ken and Henry. Picture Source]
In 1996 Scottish embryologist Sir Ian Wilmut brought into life the first cloned mammal called "Dolly". The sheep wasn't developed from a stem cell but from an adult somatic cell.
Although, the satisfaction from this achievement wasn't full, because Dolly only lived for 6.5 years and was euthanised after contracting severe lung disease. She also suffered from unexpected symptoms of aging such as arthritis and obesity.
[Sir Ian Wilmut and Dolly. Picture Source]
The cloning of adult animals is nonetheless a new trend between pet and livestock breeding companies. Despite that cloned animals often suffer from health problems - because they come from an "adult" cell, soon after birth they already experience problems related to premature aging. Currently there are thousands of cloned animals living around the world. Generally, the cloning is aimed at breeding livestock that could provide valuable offspring. That means healthy and providing a lot of milk and meat.
The cloning of livestock is still a very complex procedure. Although recently the researchers have been able to increase the success rate up to 80%, the mortality rate of cloned animals is still considerably high. About 22% of cloned calves, 25% of cloned piglets and 50% of cloned lambs die before weaning.
[Researchers with cloned pigs. Picture Source]
It seems that since Dolly not much has changed. No surprise that the breeders are still not that enthusiastic about the perspective of cloning the animals. It is still quite a futuristic concept and we have to take into account many undesirable effects of these procedures.
-logic
If you have enjoyed this article, please check out "The Pentagon's New Generation of Disintegrating Drones", where I explore recent military developments in drone technology.