SCIENTISTS in Singapore have become the first to 'semi-clone' an animal by fertilising an egg with an embryonic stem cell that mimics sperm.

Holly, a 4cm-long medaka fish, is now 15 months old and a great-grandmother, with a family of more than 100 fish which are able to reproduce normally and healthily.

The success by the scientists from the National University of Singapore may spell promise in future for infertile couples.

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