Iran’s Royan Research Institute Clones Murciana Goat

Renowned Isfahan-based biotechnology research institute Royan has cloned a type of goat compatible with hot weather. Mehdi Hajian, who serves in the institute’s Reproduction Department, said the goat has been cloned using DNA extracted from a Murciana species. Murciana, also called Royal Murciana, is a dual-purpose species (bred for both milk and meat) originally from Murcia Province along the Mediterranean coast of southeastern Spain. The researcher said the goat can provide 2 to 3 kilograms of milk daily and can thrive in hot climatic conditions. According to Hajian, the goat was born about a month ago and its health condition is stable. Prior to cloning the Murciana goat, the institute successfully cloned two other goats, a wild ram and several lambs.  The first lamb cloned by the institute named Royana was born on Sept. 30, 2006.