Scientists ‘modify’ goat in Lord Krishna’s land

New Delhi: Indian scientists have been successful in genetically engineering goats, holding out the promise of the animals being reared in the country for their high milk yield and high quality meat to boost farmers’ incomes.

Krishna, a kid goat, was born at the Central Institute for Research on Goats (CIRG), Mathura, Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, a day after Janmashtami was celebrated to mark the birth of Lord Krishna in the town considered his birthplace.

The four scientists involved in the project took three years to achieve success in impregnating a nondescript breed goat with an ovum of a goat taken from an Agra abattoir and fertilised with the sperm of a Sirohi buck. “Our effort was a success as the kid is brown in colour, showing that it has inherited the Sirohi characteristics and not its foster mother’s,” said S K Jindal, principal scientist at CIRG.

The CIRG is the second institute after the Karnal-based National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) to have successfully bred a goat kid through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).

“Our aim through IVF is to conserve the germ-plasma of good breeds of goats and sheep and go in for genetic engineering of goats for multiple births,” said N P Singh, director, CIRG. The team is awaiting the outcome of two other Sirohi goats that have been impregnated. Further success would lead to qualitative improvement in the breeding of goats.