Iran’s first live cloned sheep born

 
Iranian scientists use same methods that produced Dolly, cloned sheep survives delivery in Isfahan.

 
TEHRAN - Iranian scientists on Saturday announced the birth of the Islamic republic's first cloned sheep to survive delivery, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

"The sheep was born at the Rouyan research centre in (the central city of) Isfahan at 3:00 am (2330 GMT)," said Hamid Gourabie, the head of the institute. "She is currently under medical supervision."

Iran in July announced the birth of its first cloned sheep, but the animal died only a few minutes into life from respiratory problems. This time it appears that the cloned sheep has managed to survive.

The Iranian scientists used the same methods that produced Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal whose birth 10 years ago in Scotland caused a global sensation.

The technique that led to Dolly is called somatic cell nuclear transfer, and has remained essentially unchanged over the past decade.

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