BEIJING, June 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Two cloned
mules, competing for an 8,500 dollar purse in the finals of their
bracket, lost in an eight-way race Sunday at the 20th annual Winnemucca
Mule Races, Show & Draft Horse Challenge in a professional race against
their traditionally bred brothers in the United States.
The clones won their qualifying heats Saturday though in
what was billed as the first professional competition between clones of any
kind.
Idaho Gem, the world's first equine clone, covered his
350-yard sprint in 21.246 seconds, finishing third while Idaho Star checked
in at 22.181 seconds and wound up seventh.
The winner Bar JF Hot Ticket finished in 20.866
seconds.
"I think both animals, especially Idaho Gem, showed they
have a lot of upside," said Don Jacklin, an Idaho man who helped finance the
cloning project. "They both proved they could compete."
A crowd of 1,000 people cheered as the mules raced down
the track.
Researchers on the cloning team hailed the clones'
athletic performance and the project's benefits to human cancer research.
"Their performance is one thing that will make people feel
warm and fuzzy about cloning," said Kenneth White, a Utah State University
professor who conducted the cloning.
A mule is the usually sterile offspring of a donkey father and a
horse mother. The clones were born three years ago and carry identical DNA taken
from a fetus produced by the same parents that sired a champion mule racer.
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(Agencies)
