In a first: Calf produced using cloned Gir cow's eggs say NDRI experts
The institute stated that this success highlights NDRI's leadership in cattle reproduction innovation. The entire process, which usually takes five to seven years through traditional breeding, was accomplished in just 39 months.
The calf, born to a Sahiwal surrogate, was created from oocytes aspirated from 'Ganga', India's first cloned Gir cow, and fertilised with semen from a genetically superior Gir bull, according to NDRI scientists.
The research team responsible for the milestone includes Manoj Kumar Singh, Ranjeet Verma, Kartikey Patel, Priyanka Singh, Nitin Tyagi and Naresh Selokar.
'Ganga' was born on March 16, 2023, through handmade cloning technology developed in-house by NDRI scientists. She matured normally and attained puberty by 18 months. At that stage, her oocytes were collected using OPU — a non-surgical, ultrasound-guided method — matured in vitro, and fertilised to generate embryos.
Announcing the development on Monday, ICAR-NDRI director and vice-chancellor Dheer Singh called it a significant step toward self-reliance in dairy genetics. 'This achievement marks a revolutionary leap in improving indigenous cattle breeds. It enables faster multiplication of elite germplasm and brings science-backed prosperity to farmers,' he said.
He added that the newborn Gir calf — yet to be named — is the second-generation offspring of the original elite donor and Ganga. 'The fact that this was achieved in just 39 months underscores the transformative potential of combining cloning and IVF for livestock development,' Singh said.
Despite India having over 145 million female cattle and leading global milk production, challenges remain due to low per-animal productivity, Singh noted. He emphasised that integrating cloning with OPU-IVF could rapidly multiply elite indigenous animals, conserve valuable genetic resources, and address future needs for milk and high-quality breeding bulls.
Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) vice chancellor MS Chauhan also hailed the development. He said such technologies are crucial for building a genetically superior and productive dairy herd.
NDRI scientists said that OPU-IVF enables significant improvements in dairy productivity by allowing non-invasive and repeatable oocyte collection, even from young, infertile, or early pregnant donors. The process yields more embryos per donor and supports the production of elite bulls, helping to address shortages in artificial insemination (AI) semen supply.
NDRI has a strong track record in indigenous cattle research. In 2012, the institute produced the country's first OPU-IVF Sahiwal calf, named 'Holi'.
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Time of India
28 minutes ago
- Time of India
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Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Indian study finds what makes thyroid cancer aggressive, recurrent and treatment-resistant: What this means for precision therapy
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New Indian Express
2 hours ago
- New Indian Express
‘Around 30% Indians are at obesity risk'
HYDERABAD: Long-term tracking of thousands of healthy Indian individuals has revealed that 25% to 30% became obese by adulthood, even though they showed no signs of the condition at the beginning. This finding is part of a global study that offers new genetic insights into obesity and introduces a polygenic risk score (PRS) capable of predicting the likelihood of developing obesity as early as age five. The study involved over 600 scientists across 500 institutions, including researchers from Hyderabad-based CSIR-CCMB. Led by senior geneticist Dr Giriraj Ratan Chandak, CSIR-CCMB contributed to ensuring that the genetic data from Indian participants reflected South Asian diversity. Dr Chandak told TNIE, 'The study included four Indian cohorts mainly from Mysuru, Mumbai and Pune, ranging from 2,200 to over 20,000 individuals, many of whom have been followed for nearly two decades. The long-term data allowed researchers to assess how genetics and lifestyle together influence obesity progression over a lifetime.' The study also found that individuals with a higher genetic risk are more prone to obesity but tend to respond better to lifestyle interventions, although they may regain weight more quickly when those interventions are discontinued. Indian obesity patterns driven by distinct genetic traits, finds study The PRS model proved more accurate for people of European ancestry compared to South Asians. The model, created using genetic data from over five million individuals of various backgrounds, was found to be twice as effective as previous models. By integrating the influence of hundreds of thousands of genetic variants, it evaluates an individual's risk of obesity, serving as a robust early-warning tool to inform preventive lifestyle adjustments.
