TOKYO, July 6: Two female cloned calves have been born in Japan, using the same tech-nioue that produced Britain's Dolly the sheep— the world's first adult-animal clone, an official said today, reports AFP.

The female twin calves were born Sunday in Ishikawa prefecture. central Japan, exactly two years after the birth of Dolly.

Tne calves were born more than a month premature, and about 40 per cent underweight at 18 kilograms and 17 kilograms each.

They are the world's first calves produced by cloning cells taken from an adult cow with unfertilized eggs, calves had previously been successfully cloned through the cultivation of ova with fertilised egg cells or somatic cells from a cow foetus.

Japan last year decided on a policy of banning clone studies on humans, while promoting them on livestocks. The new technique Is hoped to be used to breed better cattle strains with higher-quality beef or greater milk capacity, the official said.