Dewey is the first
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, ...
deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...
and was born on May 23, 2003. Specifically, he is a
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
, or ''Odocoileus virginianus'', and was cloned from a dead
buck
Buck may refer to:
Common meanings
* A colloquialism for a dollar or similar currency
* An adult male in some animal species - see List of animal names
* Derby shoes, nicknamed "bucks" for the common use of buckskin in their making
People
* Buck ...
by the
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...
College of Veterinary Medicine. At last report, Dewey was living a peaceful, uneventful life in College Station, TX.
Dewey was born on May 23, 2003. A DNA analysis proved that he was genetically identical to the donor, a buck that scored a 232 on the
Boone and Crockett scale. He was cloned from tissue harvested from the skin cells of the hunted deer. Researchers at Texas A&M are studying his antler growth as well as following his offspring to measure their antler growth.
References
2003 animal births
Cloned animals
Individual deer
Individual animals in the United States
White-tailed deer
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