How long does it take to produce cloned livestock?

The species you clone determines the process and time it takes to create a clone.

• For Bovine, the process begins the day you order a kit to take a tissue sample from your rock star.  Trans Ova Genetics will send the kit the same day or when requested.  When the client receives the kit, they can take the sample as soon as possible and return it using the Fed Ex labels provided.  You want to take the samples and return them the same day or refrigerate overnight and return them the next day.  The kit is shelf-stable until used. 
• Once the tissue sample arrives at the TOG lab, it will take one of two paths:
  • If a client requested an express tissue bank (ETB), the sample will be frozen intact on the day received or the next day (if the sample arrives in the evening).  These samples will remain in a frozen state until thawed and upgraded to a Genetic Preservation (GP) or discarded many years later.  
  • If a client requested a GP or cell line, the tissue samples will go into tissue culture—taking anywhere from one to two weeks. At the end of this period, the lab will freeze anywhere from 1 million cells to multiple millions of cells.  Samples will remain in a frozen state until they are used in a cloning effort or are discarded many years later.
    • Clients who request cloned calves from a cell line will determine the number of calves requested and the desired calving date. Several days before the cloning date, cloning staff thaws cells from the cell line and reconstructs cloned embryos using oocytes from a recipient source and the thawed cells. These embryos then go through a process called electrofusion, which basically “jump starts” the cloned embryo.  
    • From here, they go into SOF (synthetic oviductal fluid) culture, just like IVF embryos, for about a week.  At the end of that week, they are transferred into synchronous recipients.  
• In summary, it takes one to two weeks to complete the culture process for a GP.
• It takes 10 days to get embryos transferred into recipients during the cloning process.
• The gestation of the calf will be the normal gestation for that breed, starting with the nuclear transfer (NT) date as if it were the conception date.  283 days for most Bos Taurus breeds up to 295 days for most Bos Indicus.
• The process/timeline of producing a cell line or Genetic Preservation is the same for pigs, sheep, and goats.
  • The difference is that pig embryos are transferred on Day 1 or Day 4 post NT.  And sheep and goats are transferred on Day 4 or Day 7 post NT.

Diane Broek
Advanced Technology Sales and Production Manager

For more information on cloning, visit our livestock cloning page or past cloning blog posts.

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