Dubai claims to have world's first cloned camel

Dubai, Apr.14 (ANI): The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday claimed that it had the world's first cloned camel.

Injaz, born in Dubai, is a female. It was born on April 8, 2009 at the Camel Reproduction Centre after more than five years of work by scientists, The National newspaper reported.

"This significant breakthrough in our research programme gives a means of preserving the valuable genetics of our elite racing and milk producing camels in the future," Dr Lulu Skidmore, scientific director at the Camel Reproduction Centre, said in a statement.

Injaz, whose name means "achievement" in Arabic, is the clone of a camel that was slaughtered for its meat in 2005, The National said.

Scientists used DNA extracted from cells in the ovaries of the slain animal and put it into an egg taken from the surrogate mother to create a reconstructed embryo, it said.(ANI)