TEHRAN – The first cloned calf in the Middle East “Bonyana” was born in Isfahan on Saturday, Royan Institute Research Center director Mohammad Hossein Nasr Isfahani has announced.

The cloning of a calf due to its physiology characteristics is very complex and delicate, and the successful cloning of Bonyana is a display of the country’s biotechnology, he told ISNA on Saturday.
He said the birth of the calf was the result of a comprehensive research which began in Iranian calendar year 1382 (March 2003-March 2004).
Nasr Isfahani also said RIRC is ready to clone species that are threatened with extinction.
In 2006 Iran became the first country in the Middle East to announce it had cloned a sheep. Two and a half years later, that animal is healthy, the institute said in April after it announced it had cloned a goat