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ARS ELECTRONICA FESTIVAL 99
LIFESCIENCE
Linz, Austria, September 04 - 09
http://www.aec.at/lifescience
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Texas scientists clone steer from skin

  
LA GRANGE, Texas, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Texas scientists have successfully 
cloned a steer from a scrap of skin taken from another steer, a Texas rancher 
said on Wednesday. 

Sandra Fisher, a rancher from La Grange, near Austin, said the Brahman steer, 
now three weeks old and 2,300 pounds (1,045 kg), was cloned from a steer she 
owned called Chance, which died a year ago. 

Scientists from Texas A&M University had kept a scrap of the animal's skin, 
from which they had removed a wart. 

``They had six attempts which were aborted in the carrier cow, but the clone 
was born last month. We've named him Second Chance,'' Fisher said. 

The Texas A&M scientists will announce further details on Thursday when they 
plan a news conference to publicise a ``major scientific breakthrough'' in 
cattle cloning, she said. 

The cloned animal is white with a touch of black in its tail, just like the 
original, she said. 

``We're real excited because we loved Chance. We fed him two or three times a 
day here in the front yard. The thought of having him again is really 
exciting,'' she added. 

The Texas A&M scientists drew attention last year when they announced that 
they had been given a $2.2 million research grant to clone a pet dog for a 
wealthy couple. 

Scientists in Japan, Korea and Germany have also cloned cattle. 

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