Scientist Dreams of Cloning Racehorse

May 10, 1998

By Paul Majendie, [Reuters]

NEWMARKET, England Ñ First came Dolly the cloned sheep. Nextcould be the cloning of a champion racehorse.

Prof. William Allen has already produced the world's firstidentical horse twins at racing's pioneering equine researchunit.

Allen, an internationally renowned breeding expert, wouldlove to clone a racehorse and, at a stroke, answer dozens ofquestions about how to train and care for a championthoroughbred.

The bluff New Zealander appointed Britain's first Professorof Equine Reproduction at Cambridge University insists he isno "equine Frankenstein," eager to clone identical championsand destroy the romance and glorious uncertainty of racing.

"I want to get the whip out and go like hell and make gooduse of the Dollies of this world. I think Dolly (the firstanimal to be cloned from an adult cell) is a major, majoradvance," he told Reuters at the research unit in Newmarket,headquarters of British racing.

Science should be harnessed to benefit mankind, not shiedaway from in fear.

"We should not huff and puff and say we are going to makelittle Hitlers all over the place. That is absolute bloodynonsense," he said.

"I am working toward cloning a horse. I don't know whether Iwill achieve it in my lifetime but I certainly hope so," hesaid.

Allen, whose pioneering methods have revolutionized breeding,sees cloning as a great leap forward.

"How wonderful if we could clone some very specializedindividuals and then do some experimental research on thoseclones to look at which training method is the best, whichfood is the best.

"If you can clone animals, you can answer those questionsvery accurately and very quickly and eliminate a lot ofuseless techniques," he said.

He dispels nightmare images of identical automatons racingagainst each other.

"I am not advocating that we clone racehorses to go out andcompete in the Derby and have five clones all competing inthe race. That is ridiculous.

"But I am advocating that the research to develop cloning forthe horse should be actively promoted and funded," he said.

His unit has already broken new ground in the field ofsurrogate motherhood by producing identical horse twins.

"We have just made a bit of a breakthrough in being able toget the embryo from the mare which we cut in half under themicroscope," Allen said.

"We split it at an early stage and put the two halves intotwo recipient mares. They are genetically identical twins butthey have developed in two different mothers," he said

The twins are ideal for comparing the effects of a newvaccine or wormer.

"They are not allowed to race but we use them here asresearch tools," he said.

Allen, a passionate supporter of racing, fears the sport isfailing to promote itself in today's fiercely competitiveleisure industry.

He argues that the boundaries of science are there to bepushed out to new frontiers.

The unit has also pioneered hormone injections andfluorescent lights that mimic the arrival of spring. Thismeans mares can be made to conceive early to fit in with theinternational breeding calendar.

The ultra-sound scanner for pregnant mares has made breedingsafer and more effective. Birth rates have steadily risenacross the country thanks to the unit's research.

Allen wants racing authorities to allow artificialinsemination for breeding under strictly controlled limits.But he is not optimistic of success in his lifetime.

"I agree that racing should be a limited edition industry.You can only have one Derby winner a year. You don't want 10Derby winners a year.

"But I am frustrated we cannot use some of the simple modernbreeding techniques," he said.

He says artificial insemination would help control the spreadof infectiids diseases and reduce the trauma of mating.

"Maidens are very unsure of being covered. It is veryfrightening having a stallion climbing up on its back for thefirst time.

"They are maidens in the true sense of the word and coveringthem is close to rape. They have to be doped and tied down.It is dangerous to everyone.

"It is dangerous for the stallion standing up on his hindlegs and exposing his crown jewels to a kick. It is alsobloody dangerous for the men (stud grooms)," he said.