Estonia’s First Cloned Foal Born with the Help of Estonian University of Life Sciences Scientists

The birth of the first cloned foal is the result of years of research and development, carried out in partnership between scientists at the Estonian University of Life Sciences and Luunja Stud OÜ. “The foal is strong and viable, but to protect its health, we will keep the stable under quarantine for some time,” said Elina Tsopp, embryologist at the Estonian University of Life Sciences and lead scientist of the cloning process.

The foal is a genetic copy of the former sport stallion Wodan M and has been named Wodan M Alpha. Wodan M was a successful competition horse owned by Urmas Raag and achieved notable results in sport. As a breeding stallion, he produced many high-quality offspring. “One of the aims of horse cloning is to preserve the genetics of top-performing horses. Even more importantly, cloning technology can also help conserve endangered horse breeds,” added Tsopp.

Estonia is one of the few countries in Europe working at such a high level in equine reproductive biotechnologies. It is now the second country in Europe where a cloned foal has been successfully produced, following earlier successes at the Avantea center in Italy. In 2024, scientists from the Estonian University of Life Sciences, in cooperation with Luunja and Perila stables, also achieved the birth of Estonia’s first ICSI foal, Endex. This marked an important step in the development of reproductive technologies in Estonia and provided momentum for pursuing horse cloning.

Cloned foal is the result of outstanding teamwork and fruitful international collaboration. The horse cloning research group includes Elina Tsopp, Anni Viljaste-Seera, Andres Reilent, Felipe Corrêa, and Andrès Gambini from the University of Queensland. A long-term partner of the University’s scientists is Luunja Stud OÜ, led by Sven Šois and Urmas Raag.