What is prometea?

Prometea is a female horse who became the first mammal to be cloned successfully from an adult somatic cell, using a nuclear transfer method. She was born on May 28, 2003, in Cremona, Italy, and was cloned by Dr. Cesare Galli and his research team at the Laboratory of Reproductive Technology in collaboration with the Italian company Avantea.

Prometea's cells were taken from the follicular fluid of her mother and inserted into an enucleated egg cell from a mare, which was then implanted into a surrogate mare's uterus. The pregnancy carried on normally, and Prometea was born via caesarean delivery.

She has since given birth to two healthy foals naturally and has contributed significantly to scientific research and breeding programs. Her cloning breakthrough was a significant achievement in the field of reproductive biotechnology and opened up new opportunities for studying genetic diseases and improving animal breeding.