Centre for Reproductive Biotechnology

History

2021: Increased demand for camel cloning services in the UAE

In mid-September 2021, a boom of cloned camels began in the UAE. Cloning is in great demand due to camel beauty contests, so scientists at one of Dubai's clinics work around the clock to create carbon copies of animals.

Not every animal is endowed with the desired lowered lips and a tall, elegant neck, but the technology allows rich customers to replace their most beautiful camel with exactly the same. At the Center for Reproductive Biotechnology, scientists are working on microscopes, and dozens of cloned camels roam outside. In 2009, the world's first cloned camel appeared in Dubai, who died in 2021.

Cloned camels boom in UAE

Beauty contests, not the only driving force behind the camel cloning industry. Many customers want to reproduce racing camels or animals that produce a large amount of milk. Customers from the Persian Gulf countries pay from $54 thousand to $109 thousand for a copy of elite camels.

We have such a great demand for camel cloning that we do not have time. Now we produce a lot of children, maybe more than 10-20 children every year. In 2021, we have 28 pregnancies (so far), in 2020 there were 20. We cloned several camels that produce more than 35 liters of milk per day, "Nisar Wani, research director of the center, told AFP.

Known as desert ships and once used to transport cargo through the sands of the Arabian Peninsula, camels are symbols of the traditional culture of the Persian Gulf. Now, after being replaced by gas SUVs as the main mode of transport, they are used for horse racing, meat and milk production.

Since orders go to cloning clinics in the UAE, the only such institutions in the Persian Gulf, scientists are developing new methods to keep pace. In breeding centers, the surrogacy method is used to increase the number of offspring obtained from cloning or traditional breeding.^[1]

Notes