‘Glory’ the first calf from in-vitro embryo

Something remarkable happened recently at the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) National Genepool in Nueva Ecija — the first buffalo calf in the world born out of an in-vitro-produced embryo.

And because its birth coincided with President Arroyo’s birthday last April 5, the PCC decided to name the calf "Glory."

PCC executive director Libertado Cruz said Glory was in excellent health and extremely big at 44 kilos (average birth weight is 30 kilos) when it was born at about 8 p.m. last April 5.

"(As far as I know), this is the first calf born out of an in-vitro embryo frozen (through) the simplest freezing method with vitrification developed by a team of PCC scientists," Cruz said.

"Glory is a pure-bred Murrah buffalo calf from an egg of a slaughtered Murrah buffalo and sperm cell from a top bull in India...This makes Glory a calf of high genetic value and a very valuable resource for improving milk and meat production that, in turn, will guarantee higher income for Filipino farmers," he added. — Katherine Adraneda