The gaur, an endangered breed of wild cattle, was cloned recently with the help of a surrogate cow mother, after scientists placed a skin cell from the gaur into the embryo of a domestic cow. Unfortunately, the calf, Noah, died from infection just 48 hours after it was born. Researchers also are considering cloning other rare animals such as the African bongo, the ocelot and the giant panda. We could soon see living, breathing creatures in place of faded old photographs of long-dead ones.
Efforts are under way to clone the extinct Tasmanian tiger.
Some scientists even hope it might be possible to clone the ice-age woolly mammoth by inserting the creature's DNA into the empty egg cell of an elephant. Copyright 2001 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.