DEFOREST (Wisconsin). Aug 7: A company that specializes in bull semen for artificial .insemination of cattle has further streamlined the reproductive process, cloning a Holstein bull calf, reports AP.

ABS Global Inc. said the calf, named Gene, is the result of a new "highly advanced" technique using stem ceil cloning, but refused to give details Wednesday. The process and 6-month-old Gene were to be unveiled Thursday.

Stem cells are blank slate” cells that haven't yet specialized their function, such as a liver or muscle cell, and thus their genes are relatively easy to manipulate.

ABS spokesman Tom Gahm said the company plans to use Its cloning process in pharmaceutical. milk and beef production.

Company officials said adult animal cells were not used to clone Gene, which makes him significantly different from Dolly, the sheep cloned last year by Scottish researchers. Dolly was produced from the udder cell of a 6-year-old ewe.

Many species, including sheep, cattle, rabbits, monkeys and mice, have been cloned from embryos, which are easier to clone than adult cells.

"In the particular case of Gene, it was not cloned from an adult bull. But the cloning technology that we have still allows us to have the capability of taking cells from adults." said Dale Schwartz. CEO of a new ABS subsidiary created to market the cloning technology.

Clones, produced without sexual reproduction, are exact genetic duplicates of another animal. Cloned cattle would be useful because they could be genetically manipulated to produce impressive amounts of milk or beef.