By Fergus Walsh

BBC science correspondent, in Cremona



Prometea: Pleased to be in human company

To create Prometea, scientists took a skin cell from an adult mare which was fused with an empty equine egg.

The mare then acted as a surrogate mother for Prometea - so giving birth to a carbon copy of herself.

The development is reported in the journal Nature. It means scientists have now cloned sheep, mice, cattle, goats, rabbits, cats, pigs and mules. The mule, called Idaho Gem, was born earlier this year in the US.

The Haflinger is a popular European breed

Prometea is inquisitive and docile. She fed happily from my hand as we filmed her for television news.

Rather like Dolly the sheep, the most famous clone of all, who I met a few years ago, she appears delighted to meet the public and is not at all camera-shy.

The stables Prometea shares with her surrogate mother also houses two cow clones.

Cesare Galli is delighted with his achievement and believes it could have major implications for horse racing.

The hydrid mule Idaho Gem was born earlier this year

Thoroughbred horseracing is strictly controlled - it does not permit artificial insemination or any kind of fertility treatment.

The cloning technique could have a particular role, says Galli, in perpetuating the sporting success of male show and jump horses that have been castrated. Geldings, which have their testicles removed at an early age, have no ability to reproduce normally.

Prometea was the successful outcome of 328 attempts to construct and implant a viable embryo.