By Yulia Belova, The clones of today's top class racehorses can potentially participate in the next Olympic Games. The International Equestrian Federation (FEI) lifted the ban on the participation of cloned horses in international competitions back in June 2012. There is no definitive answer to the question on whether “clones of champion horses will be able to repeat the success of their parents”. Cloning horses is expensive and unpredictable. Scientists give no guarantees that the clones will inherit all of the characteristics of their predecessors. According to researchers, during cloning only 98% of the original characteristics of the parent can be reproduced. Experiments in raising cloned horses started in 2003. But they are mostly aimed at breeding improvement, said Graeme Cooke, the FEI Veterinary Director.“The majority of recent requests for cloning permission have come from people who want to breed cloned horses, and not participate in competitions with such horses. The cloning technology is very young; there are only a few hundred cloned horses in the world. Some of them take part in competitions, but so far they are not showing very successful results.” Tags: cloning, sport, Sci-Tech, horse, Opinion & Analysis, World, Читать далее, Source: Voice of Russia.
