Indian scientist behind world’s first cloned camel

Injaz or achievement in Arabic,a humped female camel,is the 12th domestic species to be cloned. “Injaz was born on April 8 after an uncomplicated pregnancy. She is doing much better than animals her age,” Dr Wani told The Indian Express from Dubai.

“Injaz is the clone of a camel slaughtered for its meat. When she was born,its DNA completely matched the adult female cells from where it was derived,thereby confirming the cloning,” he added. She was produced by injecting the cells harvested from the female camel ovary into a camel oocyte (female germ cell or reproductive cell) whose nucleus had been removed. The two were then subjected to a split-second electrical impulse and chemically activated to induce them to start dividing like a normal fertilised egg. The resulting embryo was cultured for seven days in laboratory before it was re-implanted into a surrogate camel. Pregnancy was confirmed in 20 days and lasted the normal 12.5 months.

“When I joined the institute,I was amazed to see the amount of work done on other species. Though camel was their priority,they didn’t know much about it. The cloning process started in 2007,” he added.

Dr Wani’s PhD in cryopreservation of reproductive cells,ova and sperm in GB Pant Agricultural University in Uttaranchal,too,helped him in his endeavour.

“My PhD thesis was also highly recognised and was first of its kind,” he said.

Dr Wani belongs to Anantnag district in Kashmir. He did his BVSc &AH from SKUAST in 1992 and MVSc in 1996 from the same university.

He has more than 52 scientific papers to his credit,most of which have been published in international scientific journals. He has received nine awards for his various achievements so far.

He is the member of five international scientific bodies and academies and is an accredited reviewer of scientific papers submitted to seven-top ranking national and international journals. He lives with his two children and veterinarian wife in UAE.