Kheiron Biotech, owned by Argentine Polo Player Adolfo Cambiaso clones about 100 horses each year — more than just about any company in the world — including about 10 clones of his deceased mare 'Dolfina Cuartetera'.
Next year, the company expects to double its output. Although clones are still not permitted in horse racing, cloned horses sell for upward of $1 million to the best polo clubs in Argentina, to endurance riders in the Middle East and to show-jumping equestrians around the world.
What began as an effort to immortalize champions has now become a massive, multimillion-dollar industry with Argentina imposing few rules on cloning, and polo association leaders placing no restrictions on how many cloned horses can play in a game, leaving it up to the companies and the teams to define their own limits.
Kheiron Biotech have also now begun combining cloning with gene editing.
In mid-December, they successfully implanted seven cloned, genetically modified embryos. If the pregnancies are successful, the world’s first genetically designed horse will be born next year — a horse whose genes have been edited to be stronger and faster, a sort of polo superhorse.
If he gets the green light from Argentine regulatory authorities, the company hopes to take this technology to the next level — changing the sex of a clone, for breeding purposes or perhaps to make an even better animal - asking the question, if an elite stallion was cloned, could that same horse be even more powerful as a mare?
The possibilities of this experiment — and its long-term risks — are yet to be fully understood. What are your thoughts on cloning and genetically editing horses?
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