TEXAS researchers claimed a cloning first on Thursday, with the first successful genetic reproduction of a cat in the form of a kitten called cc. The two-month-old kitty was born to her surrogate mother, Allie, in December last year, but veterinarians at Texas A and M University delayed announcing it until DNA results could confirm she was a genetic match to her mother. ”cc is developing normally for a kitten its age and appears healthy,” said Mark Westhusin, lead investigator on the CopyCat project.The first genetically-reproduced animal companion, cc is a domestic shorthair cat like her mother ”Rainbow,” although she differs somewhat in colouring, because developmental factors influence pigmentation in cats. The kitty was the only one of 87 implanted cloned embryos to survive the experiment carried out by researchers at the university’s College of Veterinary Medicine in College Station, according to the journal Nature which will publish a paper on the experiment next week. – Sapa-AFP