To the editor

Due to unfortunate circumstances in managing an unruly first-time mother, the second litter of clone piglets reported in the October issue ( Nat. Biotechnol. 18, 1055, 2000 ) were lost one-week after their birth. The mother's aggressive behavior toward the piglets forced us to limit the time they were with her to nurse, which failed to provide adequate nutrition to sustain their healthy appetites. By the time we intervened, it was too late to reverse the adverse nutritional condition of the piglets. In general, baby piglets of such a young age do not respond favorably to supplemental milk. Problems associated with primiparous gilts during their first litter are not uncommon in a production environment. However, the risk of her not accepting the piglets was exacerbated by the heightened attention she received during the farrowing process. Piglets from the first litter continue to exhibit normal growth patterns, and no complications in their rearing have been encountered.