Buffalo cloning achievements.

Abstract

Buffalo, an important Indian dairy animal, contributing significantly to milk, meat, and draught power. India is ranked first in global total milk production by producing 187 million tonnes of milk per annum, in which buffalo contributes 49% (91 million tonnes). Despite significant contributions to the country’s milk production, the number of high milk-producing buffaloes is limited. One of the major obstacles that limit the faster genetic improvement of this valued farm animal is the shortage of proven bulls to mitigate the demand of semen for breeding to produce high milk yielding buffaloes.

Buffalo cloning is an asexual means of reproduction that produces genetically identical copies of a desirable buffalo without natural or artificial mating and any genome modification. Buffalo cloning is one of the assisted reproductive techniques, in which one somatic cell is fused with enucleated oocyte/oocytes to produce blastocyst stage embryos. The produced blastocysts are transferred into the foster mothers to carry cloned pregnancies and to deliver cloned calves. The application of this technology to current buffalo breeding strategies will have a substantial impact on selection intensity and subsequent genetic gain.