Noori (Arabic word for "light") is a female

pashmina goat The Changthangi or Changpa is a breed of cashmere goat native to the high plateaus of Ladakh in northern India. It is closely associated with the nomadic Changpa people of the Changthang plateau. It may also be known as the Ladakh Pashmina o ...

, the first pashmina goat to be

cloned Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, c ...

using the process of nuclear transfer. Born on 9 March 2012, she is kept at the place of her birth, at the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry,

Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir is an agricultural university located in Shalimar, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir, India. With its main campus and Faculty of Horticul ...

, Shuhama,

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

in the Indian territory of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

Birth

Noori was born on 9 March 2012 to three mothers (one provided the egg, another the DNA and a third carried the cloned embryo to term). She was created using the technique of somatic cell nuclear transfer, in which the

cell nucleus The cell nucleus (pl. nuclei; from Latin or , meaning ''kernel'' or ''seed'') is a membrane-bound organelle found in eukaryotic cells. Eukaryotic cells usually have a single nucleus, but a few cell types, such as mammalian red blood cells, h ...

from an adult cell is transferred into an unfertilised oocyte (developing egg cell) that has had its

nucleus Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucle ...

removed. The hybrid cell is then stimulated to divide by an electric shock, and when it develops into a

blastocyst The blastocyst is a structure formed in the early embryonic development of mammals. It possesses an inner cell mass (ICM) also known as the ''embryoblast'' which subsequently forms the embryo, and an outer layer of trophoblast cells called the t ...

, it is implanted in a surrogate mother using laparoscopic surgery. This is the same method as was used in cloning the first mammal of the world,

Dolly Dolly may refer to: Tools *Dolly (tool), a portable anvil * A posser, also known as a dolly, used for laundering * A variety of wheeled tools, including: **Dolly (trailer), for towing behind a vehicle **Boat dolly or launching dolly, a device fo ...

. Noori was cloned by Dr. Riaz Ahmad Shah, Dr.Syed Hilal Yaqoob, Dr. Maajid Hassan Bhat, Dr. Mujeeb Fazili, Firdous Ahmad Khan and colleagues at the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir in Shuhama, 13 km to the east of

. The successful cloning of Noori, which took two years, will assist the department in cloning the endangered species of

Kashmir stag The Kashmir stag (''Cervus hanglu hanglu''), also called hangul (), is a subspecies of Central Asian red deer endemic to Kashmir and surrounding areas. It is found in dense riverine forests in the high valleys and mountains of Jammu and Kashmi ...

(hangul); they previously cloned a water buffalo in 2009. The funding for Noori's cloning was provided by the World Bank, which runs the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

Pashmina goat

Noori also offers hope to the people of Kashmir of increasing production of pashmina, a type of fine

cashmere wool Cashmere wool, usually simply known as cashmere, is a fiber obtained from cashmere goats, pashmina goats, and some other breeds of goat. It has been used to make yarn, textiles and clothing for hundreds of years. Cashmere is closely associate ...

. At present pashmina wool is being imported from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

to fulfill demand, due to the rarity of

, which is a special breed of goat indigenous to high altitudes of the Himalayas in Ladakh. Pashmina shawls are hand spun and woven and the

textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

are embroidered in Kashmir, where more than 10 million people are associated with this industry.

References

{{Reflist Jammu and Kashmir Cloned animals Individual goats