Dubai: Pregnancy for world's first cloned camel

One-humped camel Injaz, here with her surrogate mother in 2009, is now expecting a calf of her own

The world's first cloned camel is pregnant, according to scientists in Dubai.

Injaz, whose name means "achievement" in Arabic, was cloned from the ovarian cells of a slaughtered camel in 2009, and born via a surrogate mother. She celebrates her sixth birthday on Wednesday and is now carrying a calf of her own, The National newspaper reports. "She has conceived in a natural way," Dr Nisar Wani, scientific director at the emirate's Reproductive Biotechnology Centre, tells the paper. "This will prove cloned camels are fertile and can reproduce the same as naturally produced camels." Dr Wani says he's expecting the calf to be born later this year.

When Injaz was unveiled to the world a few days after birth, scientists hailed it as a significant breakthrough that would help to preserve the genetics of the camel population - both elite racing camels and those that produce milk. Since then many more of the animals have been produced through genetic cloning, including one cloned from the cells of a camel beauty pageant winner.

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