The sheep cloned - Polly and Molly - were born in July and have human genes. Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute in Scotland said his team should know by spring if the lambs milk would contain useful quantities of factor IX, the protein that helps blood to clot and is used in the treatment of haemophilia.

Dr Wilmut and his team, who earlier cloned the sheep Dolly, announced the cloning achievement in a report in the journal of Science.

The latest cloning is a breakthrough, proving that it is possible to genetically manipulate cells in an embryo and still produce viable animals, one of the researchers noted.

The scientists created a genomic construct designed to express human facto IX - the primary treatment for haemophilia - in sheep milk and were able to transfer it into the nucleus of a seven-day old fetal sheep cell. They were then able to clone the cell and grow the clones in culture. Returned to the wombs of host sheep, the embryos resulted in lambs whose cells contained the Factor IX transgene.

Some animals have already been subject to genetic manipulation to produce agents to help treat emphysema and cystic fibrosis. But creating complete animals woudl open the door to wider production of such medicines. Observers also say the same techniques coudl be used to meet a growing need for organs for human transplants.

Ron James of PPL Therapeutics, which helped develop the technique, said the group intended to establish a flock of genetically engineered sheep in New Zealand.

- Sapa-AFP, AP

Webmaster's note:
And thus a new era of torture for laboratory animals dawns... *sigh* If only medical science would concentrate on preventative measures and stop fiddling with techniques which are fundamentally flawed, because they are still non-human based. More research should be done on developing techniques which do not rely on animals (genetically altered or otherwise) and also do not require experimentation on a live, unwilling subject.