Cloning bulls

[rmbcows]

If you can clone bulls from frozen semen, and I'm not 100% sure you can, why hasn't anyone cloned some of the old greats?  If you have semen in the tank from an old deceased bull, and for discussions sake, let's say the owner is deceased also, would it be legal to have that bull cloned?  Provided of course you had a bucket of money you wanted to spend. 

 

[zac_norwood]

I don't believe a Sraw of semen is enough, for cloning they collect a cell line from the calfs ear. Not 100% on this but I don't think this is even possible.

 

[cbcr]

Here is a link to a company that does cloning ViaGen http://www.viagen.com/.  They have a page on their that explains some of the procedures involved.

 

[FriedgesCharolais]

Curious if anyone on here has actually cloned an animal or not and what the cost is?

 

[rmbcows]

Curious if anyone on here has actually cloned an animal or not and what the cost is?

I was curious about that also.  I believe the cost is in the neighborhood of $15,000-$20,000.  I've seen lots of bulls sell for more than that, and there's always the possibility of getting more than one.  Also read that it's only about 10% successful.... not sure if that's true or not.  Would be nice to hear from someone with first hand knowledge about this.  Also curious if semen sales are as good on the clones as they were on the original?  I have used semen from clones and had no problems, but I also used semen from a clone for a flush and got all UFO's.  Embryologist said I should've used the original. 

 

[hntwhitetail]

I will have to check, but I am pretty sure I saw an article last week where either a company in japan or india had cloned a few popular bulls by using semen.  I will try and find the article.

 

[hntwhitetail]

Here it is...

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Indian-scientists-clone-male-calf-from-dead-bulls-semen/articleshow/39118588.cms

 

[idalee]

You cannot clone from semen because the sperm is only one-half of an individual.

 

[knabe]

One could potentially clone from somatic cells (2n) which are present in semen.


If this is true and reproducible, this would be awesome. I predicted this years ago on this site.

At some level, combining two sperm is probably possible as well and will happen at some point.


Hopefully it's true.

 

[knabe]

As predicted.


http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0090755


Don't use those last straws.

 

[ROMAX]

If this is possible,someone needs to clone MEYER 734,im sure you would make your money back on him.

 

[zac_norwood]

Could only the owner of the bull clone with the semen? If not this could cause problems with anyone having the capability to clone the best Bulls...

 

[hntwhitetail]

There will probably be a few more disclaimers the next time you buy a few straws.  There is probably nothing they could do if you use the cloned bull for in herd use only.

 

[Auburnviewfarms]

I feel like, if you bought the semen it's yours u own it. You did not get a cell line in the form of a ear punch or such from the live animal. You bought the genetics to use as u see fit. unless there was a disclaimer when you bought then I would guess your limited. If not I think you would be able to invest your money into the project. But maybe not.

 

[Steve123]

I think this is going to be one of those cases of technology out pacing law.  It may be similar to patent infringement type action that is being discussed with 3D printer technology.  If I purchase an item and take a 3D scan of it and then reproduce it in my 3D printer and sell them, am I breaking the law? Currently, I can resell the original item to whom ever I want but can I reproduce that item. In this situation it would be: I can sell my unit of semen to anyone I want for a price they will pay, or can I reproduce an exact copy of the factory of my unit of semen and thereby sell copies of the original unit of semen I paid for.

 

[Medium Rare]

As predicted.


http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0090755


Don't use those last straws.

The nice lady at the breed registry says, "You want to register what??".

 

[justintime]

I understand why people want to use cloning to bring back a great sire or dam... but the thought that keeps going through my mind when I think of cloning is... if these animals were so great, why do they not have offspring that are as good or better?  When I was growing up, I used to hear breeders talk about prepotent sires, that is, sires that would produce one or more sons better than they were themselves. I hardly ever hear anyone talk about this today. Are there no sires capable of doing this, or has the word " prepotent" just became redundant?
Personally, I believe a true cattle breeder should be trying to improve quality in every generation of cattle they produce. It seems to me to far too many breeders today, think only in the present and never consider the future. Just a few random thoughts on what I see from many years raising these critters.

 

[Tallcool1]

I understand why people want to use cloning to bring back a great sire or dam... but the thought that keeps going through my mind when I think of cloning is... if these animals were so great, why do they not have offspring that are as good or better?  When I was growing up, I used to hear breeders talk about prepotent sires, that is, sires that would produce one or more sons better than they were themselves. I hardly ever hear anyone talk about this today. Are there no sires capable of doing this, or has the word " prepotent" just became redundant?
Personally, I believe a true cattle breeder should be trying to improve quality in every generation of cattle they produce. It seems to me to far too many breeders today, think only in the present and never consider the future. Just a few random thoughts on what I see from many years raising these critters.

I believe it is every producer's goal to improve on the previous generation.  Sometimes one comes along that is generations ahead of himself.  Bulls like that make it hard to follow suit!

The thing that I wonder about is the timing of any given bull.  Meyer 734 worked great because of the type of cows that were wandering around when he became popular.  Meyer 734 semen is expensive because there are still some of those cows running around that he will work on.  If there were tens of thousands of units of his semen on the market......I wonder if it would sell very well.

 

[justintime]

My point is that if any given bull is generations ahead, then why isn't there a son that is as good or even better to replace him and expand his impact on the industry even further?  For years I have looked at AI catalogs and saw sires considered to be " the best ever". A few of them have sons that follow them, but there are many who don't. If this is so, were these bulls actually as good as they were reported to be?

 

[OH Breeder]

I understand why people want to use cloning to bring back a great sire or dam... but the thought that keeps going through my mind when I think of cloning is... if these animals were so great, why do they not have offspring that are as good or better?  When I was growing up, I used to hear breeders talk about prepotent sires, that is, sires that would produce one or more sons better than they were themselves. I hardly ever hear anyone talk about this today. Are there no sires capable of doing this, or has the word " prepotent" just became redundant?
Personally, I believe a true cattle breeder should be trying to improve quality in every generation of cattle they produce. It seems to me to far too many breeders today, think only in the present and never consider the future. Just a few random thoughts on what I see from many years raising these critters.

If you are breeding for terminal animals or market animals. WOuld your offspring be better than sire? If you are breeding for breeding stock I agree as you said, you would think the offspring with combination of gentics would exceed or match the stock which it came from.
Cloning breeding stock, increasing your chances of having more offspring that exceed parents abilities. A genetic combination that has worked over and over- so make more copies to get more copies of superior stock?