Expects Birth of Cloned Sheep

TEHRAN, Iran - In less than two months, Iran hopes to celebrate the birth of the world’s first “second generation” cloned sheep, according to an anonymous sheep herder in Iran. The sheep was conceived by pairing an Iranian man with a cloned ewe, for “one night of steamy man-sheep passion.”

The cloning program has won backing from Iran's Muslim Shiite religious leaders, who have issued religious decrees authorizing animal cloning but banning human reproductive cloning "because cloned people shouldn't have sex." A majority of Iran's nearly 70 million people are Shiites.

In contrast, Sunni Muslim religious leaders — including senior clerics in Saudi Arabia — have banned cloning altogether, even in animals. That’s because Sunni Muslims frown on having sex with animals for the purpose of procreation. “Sex with animals is for fun, not for food,” a Sunni cleric said.

The cloning effort is a result of Iran's work in stem cell research, combined with the often lonely life of a shepherd. Officials say researchers tried to impregnate two sheep with cloned embryos, and three by “traditional man-sheep love methods,” and one of the sheep is expected to deliver twins on Feb. 14. The gestation period for sheep is about five months.

"Of five surrogate mothers, three of the sheep are pregnant. One of them has two babies in its womb, an unprecedented occurrence in the world's brief cloning history," said Saeed Kazemi Ashtiani, head of Iran's Royan Institute. The expectant father couldn’t be more proud.

The latest ultrasound performed by veterinarians last week showed the twins in good shape. “They look a lot like their father,” the veterinarian said. "Fortunately, everything is pointing in the right direction. We appear to be in perfect shape for many more generations of sheep sex." Ashtiani said.

Park Se-pill, director of the Maria Infertility Medical Institute based in Seoul, South Korea, said the expected births "shows that Iranian men have the sex drive to create cloned sheep like Dolly," the world's first cloned sheep, born in 1996, “but not the technology.”

Scientists at Royan Institute also tried to clone a cow, but the farmer fell off of the ladder. Ashtiani said cloning sheep and cows could lead to advances in medical research, and reduce the number of brothels in Iran.

Ashtiani said Iranian researchers would never try to clone a human being because Iranian farmers highly prefer having sex with their livestock.