Adolfo Cambiaso: Polo Player and Revolutionary of Cloning

Adolfo Cambiaso has been ranked number one in the world of polo for twenty-two years. Yet, in addition to this impressive accomplishment, he also revolutionized the specific field of cloning and biology at large. Indeed, he has used his horse to bring him to the forefront of cutting-edge biotechnology. At the age of twenty-five, Adolfo decided to create a breeding business from scratch as well as his own polo team called La Dolfina. His world-famous stallion, Aiken Cura, is regarded as one of the best ponies in the sport of polo. However, in the final of the 2006 Argentine Open, the horse was seriously injured and was thus forced into early retirement. Before Aiken Cura was euthanized in January of 2007, Cambiaso requested for live skin cells to be harvested.

Adolfo surmised that he could bring Aiken Cura back to life through the technology of cloning. When cloning technology was refined (e.g. Dolly the sheep), Cambiaso created a horse cloning business with polo enthusiast Texan Alan Meeker of Crestview Genetics. With the help of Dr. Adrian Mutto and Argentinian tycoon Ernesto Gutierrez, he cloned the first “offspring” in 2010. Furthermore, in the 2017 Argentine Open, he won with multiple clones (14 to be exact!) of his horse Cuartetera, his favorite seventeen-year old stallion. Researchers used the DNA from one of Cuartetera’s somatic cells and transferred it to an egg cell that had its own nucleus removed. The incubated egg was then implanted into a surrogate mare who eventually gave birth to the clone.

In an interview with 60 Minutes, Adolfo explained that the horses experienced no health issues, which coincides with research completed by scientists at the National Institute of Health. The fourteen clones of the horse appear to be just as gifted. Adolfo Cambiaso comfortably said, “I already won two Argentine Opens with the clones. So they will end up being as good as her, I think.” Although there are many ethical issues that arise with cloning, Adolfo Cambiaso is revolutionizing the cloning industry and showing how this technology can directly affect the world around us.