This doesn't mean that the cloning floodgates are flinging wide open. As the New York Times observes, very few cloned embryos make it to adulthood. Many fail before they're even born, and those that do frequently die while they're very young. Also, the data isn't going to eliminate ethical objections to cloning, especially for humans.

However, the findings might dispel some of the preconceptions that helped fuel blanket bans on cloning animals (or selling the meat from those animals) in countries like Australia and Canada. It shows that clones aren't automatically defective -- for scientists, the biggest challenge is refining the technique so that survival rates are comparable to what you'd normally see.