How cloned horses came to dominate professional polo

Argentine polo star Adolfo Cambiaso pioneered the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer to clone his elite polo horses, building a stable of over 150 genetic replicas that have helped his La Dolfina team dominate the sport. What began as a speculative gamble in 2006 has grown into a global biotech industry centered in Argentina, despite high costs, low success rates, and ongoing ethical debates over animal welfare and competitive fairness. The technology, which creates embryos using DNA from skin cells implanted into enucleated eggs, is also being applied to wildlife conservation and livestock breeding, though epigenetic and mitochondrial issues continue to cause health problems in cloned animals.