Why might livestock farmers want to clone animals that produce more milk or finer wool?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

cloning The first clone of an adult mammal, Dolly the sheep, at the Roslin Institute, near Edinburgh.

Livestock farmers may choose to use cloning technology to reproduce specific animals that possess highly desirable traits, such as superior milk production or the ability to grow finer wool.12

By utilizing processes like somatic cell nuclear transfer, farmers can create genetic replicas of their most productive livestock. This allows them to breed herds consisting exclusively of high-quality animals, which can lead to increased agricultural yields and more efficient food or material production. While the commercial application of this technology remains limited by the high costs associated with the process, it serves as a powerful tool for maintaining and propagating beneficial genetic characteristics within a population.132