Posted on 06/06/2003 2:15:43 PM PDT by presidio9
There's a not so funny side to the thoroughbred who could win The Triple Crown.
AP Photo
Unlike Secretariat and other superstar sires, Funny Cide is a gelding. That means he can't reproduce, costing his owners millions of dollars in stud fees and ending a champion's lineage.
But a scientist who recent helped clone a racing mule believes Funny Cide could probably buck the odds right now.
"I feel quite confident that technically it can be done. It will be a natural extension now that we've cloned the mule," said Dirk Vanderwall, assistant professor in the Department of Animal and Veterinary Science at the University of Idaho. "It is extremely likely that, yes, we can clone an individual animal like Funny Cide."
Vanderwall and two other scientists are responsible for the May 4 birth of Idaho Gem, the first clone from the horse family. Vanderwall said scientific scuttlebutt is that two cloned horses, one in Texas and another in Paris, will be born soon. Sheep, cows, pigs, cats and rodents have already been cloned.
A clone, however, doesn't mean an exact double. Environmental factors and even the "gene expression" in a cloned animal can make an offspring different from the "founder," he said. But Idaho Gem so far isn't showing any physical problems or anything other than the racing spirit of its champion founder, Taz the mule.
"From the moment of birth, (Idaho Gem's) just been very healthy and vigorous and continues to be," Vanderwall said Friday.
Vanderwall said Funny Cide's celebrity status as a champion who can't reproduce is fueling a surge in interest in cloning.
Funny Cide's owners, busy preparing for Saturday's race, didn't immediately respond to a request. The 3-year-old already has won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and can win the Triple Crown Saturday at Belmont.
And no one can talk to a horse, of course, but the protectors of the breed want no part of cloning. Rules ban cloning, artificial insemination and anything other than "the result of a stallion's natural service with a broodmare," according to requirements of The Jockey Club, since 1894 the protector of the thoroughbred breed's integrity.
"I don't think you'll see any cloned horses being registered for a long time, if ever," said Bob Curran Jr., the organization's vice president for corporate communications. He also said a clone's foals and the foals' offspring would be prohibited.
The organization uses DNA tests to verify parentage in some cases and sends inspectors to investigate if a horse's breeding is disputed. "We can't be present at every breeding in the country, but if we have reason to suspect that someone has been using prohibitive practices, we can and will send out our registrar to investigate," he said.
A breeder found to have cloned could be banned from including any other horses in the American Stud Book, the official registry.
"So they are risking a lot," Curran said.
Dad hell, cloning could make Funny Cide a twin
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