People in Argentina love an old ballgame called polo. They also love polo ponies. 

Polo is played from the backs of horses. A good polo pony moves fast. How do you make a polo pony extra fast? Now Argentinian scientists know: You make the ponies yourself! 

Wait a second . . . can a person make a horse?! 

No . . . and yes. Only God can truly create a living creature. But scientists now have the tech to alter a creature’s genome—its complete set of genes. (A genome is like a blueprint for a living thing.)

The scientists use genes from an award-winning mare. Her name? Polo Pureza. 

They cloned her. Her genes will live on in five horses born in October and November.

“We design their genome before they are born,” says Gabriel Vichera. Mr. Vichera is the scientific director at the company doing the project. The scientists can go into any part of the genome. Then, snip! They can cut that genome like you might with a pair of scissors. 

Polo Pureza’s name means “Polo Purity.” Scientists took genes from her. They edited them. The new ponies will be just like Polo Pureza . . . except faster. 

Why will they be faster? Because of certain muscle fibers. When muscles move, they contract—tighten or shorten. Ponies—and you for that matter—are created with two types of muscle fibers. “Fast twitch muscle fibers” create short, powerful muscle contractions. These really come in handy when you need to run fast. Or when you blink your eyes. The pony clones will have more fast twitch muscle fibers than a typical horse. 

People have bred traits into or out of lines of horses for hundreds of years. Will this “shortcut” make Argentina’s polo games even more fast paced?

Why? God gave people the responsibility to care for His creation. That includes horses, which help people work, travel, and play.