§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what criteria are used for determining the age of cloned animals; and if he will make a statement. [91732]
§ Mr. RookerThe age of a cloned animal is determined from the date of its birth. There have been suggestions backed up by recently published results, albeit based on a very small sample, that animals cloned from adult cells may be genetically older than their birth age. Further research, and the passage of time, will be needed to determine whether cloned animals do have a shorter life span.