Robert H. Foote, Cornell professor emeritus of animal science and one of the pioneers in cloning, will testify at hearings on cloning before the New York State Senate Committee on Investigation, at the State Office Building, 270 Broadway, New York City, on Thursday, March 13. The hearings begin at 11 a.m.

State Sen. Roy Goodman (R-Manhattan), chair, will conduct the first such hearing to take place in a state legislature since Scottish scientists announced last month the successful cloning of a mammal -- a sheep.

Foote brings to the hearing more than 40 years of scientific research experience in animal science at Cornell. He has authored 500 peer-reviewed, scientific papers on the subject of animal science, biology and animal reproduction.

Most of his work falls into four research categories: The in vitro fertilization, culture and micromanipulation of embryos; oogenesis, superovulation and embryo transfer; extenders for semen and cryopreservation; and spermatogenesis and epididymal function. All of his work was done to improve agricultural animals or to provide a better understanding of the reproductive process in all mammals.

In the late 1950s, Foote used carbon 14 and thymidine radioisotopes to label the DNA during spermatogenesis, to begin understanding sperm production for artificial breeding in agricultural animals. He also performed the classic work that established that all "eggs" in the adult female were formed as ovarian oocytes in the fetal ovary -- meaning that an adult female will have as many eggs as she will ever have when she is born.

In 1970, before embryonic transfer had started commercially, Foote published a peer-reviewed paper stating that non-surgical embryonic transfer would be the method in the future.

Foote's animal reproduction research also led to improvement of animal health. He found the use of the antibiotic combination of penicillin, streptomycin and polymyxin, used between 1950 and 1988 to treat semen, helped to wipe out Vibrio fetus, a disease that had cost the cattle industry hundreds of millions of dollars.

Foote earned a bachelor's degree with honors from the University of Connecticut in 1943. He earned a master's degree in 1947 and a doctorate in 1950, both from Cornell. In 1950, Foote began teaching animal science at Cornell as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 1956, then full professor in 1963.

Foote was a Fulbright Scholar at the Zoophysiology Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1958.

Prior to his teaching and research career, Foote was a first lieutenant in the 442nd unit of the U.S. Army during World War II, which helped drive the Nazis out of Italy and France. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, with a cluster, for his efforts at the battle of Bruyere, France, in October 1944.

Foote has funded an endowment at the University of Connecticut, in memory of his first wife. The Ruth Parcells Foote Endowment provides for the discussion and case reports of ethical issues confronting today's society. He also has funded a second endowment at the University of Connecticut to study problems confronting today's families.