World's first cloned camel is pregnant

According to scientists, the world’s first cloned camel is pregnant.

The mother-to-be, whose name is Injaz meaning ‘’achievement’’ in Arabic was cloned from the ovarian cells of a slaughtered camel in 2009 and born from a  surrogate mother.

Injaz was six years old this week and is said to have conceived naturally

Dr Nisar Wani, scientific director of the Reproductive Biotechnology Centre in Nad Al Sheba, Dubai, told The National, ‘We are very excited because Injaz is now pregnant and we expect to have a calf from her late this year. 

‘She has conceived in a natural way. This will prove cloned camels are fertile and can reproduce the same as naturally produced camels.’

Since Injaz was born, many more animals have been produced by genetic cloning, including one from the cells of a camel beauty pageant winner. 

It took five years of work before Injaz was cloned.  She was born on April 8, 2009 weighing 66lbs (30kg), after an uncomplicated gestation of 378 days.

The calf was created from cells harvested from the ovary of an adult camel. The cells were then planted into the egg of a surrogate mother.

Injaz was confirmed as genetically identical to the camel the cells were taken from, according to United Arab Emirates newspapers at the time.

The birth of Injaz, caused great excitement in 2009 and scientists said that cloning would help to preserve the genetics of the camel population.

The world's first mammal was cloned 19 years ago. Dolly the sheep was born in Edinburgh using DNA from an adult cell.

Dolly was put down in 2003, after being diagnosed with lung disease, but since then, scientists have successfully cloned mice, cows, pigs and dogs as well as camels.