Paving the way for the next generation: Father-daughter duo uses OSU education in mammalian cloning and genetics
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Media Contact: Sophia Fahleson | Digital Communications Specialist | 405-744-7063 | sophia.fahleson@okstate.edu
For the Russell family of Gainesville, Texas, the horse industry is a way of life.
The family members have built their lives around appreciation for horses and the industry involved, said Blake Russell, president of ViaGen Pets and Equine and 1986 Oklahoma State University alumnus.
Russell was raised in Duncan, Oklahoma, on his parents’ small Quarter Horse racing facility, laying a foundation for his passion for the horse industry, he said.
After earning an associate degree in animal science from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in 1984, Russell transferred to OSU.
“Oklahoma State will always hold a special place in my heart because of the friendships formed there,” said Julie Russell, Blake’s wife, who spent two years at OSU. “Did I mention that I also met my husband at OSU? Our first date was at Hideaway Pizza.”
The education gained and relationships developed in the animal science program paved a path to Blake Russell’s current professional successes, he said.
“Charles Maxwell, the OSU Extension swine specialist and an animal science professor, took an interest in me and convinced me I should consider the rapidly advancing world of commercial swine genetics,” Blake Russell said.
Maxwell arranged an on-campus interview for Blake Russell with an international genetics firm, the Pig Improvement Co., leading to a full-time employment opportunity.
“I spent 18 gratifying years at PIC and learned a lot about technology, business, global cultures, and relationship building,” he said. “Our focus was on the commercial swine industry.
“I climbed through the ranks at PIC and helped service or initiate businesses in more than 20 countries,” Blake Russell added. “We were actively involved in all aspects of genetics and reproduction as well as their role in advancing the commercial value of pigs and cattle.”
Through his role at PIC, Blake Russell observed the work at The Roslin Institute, known for later producing the first successful somatic cell nuclear transfer: Dolly the Sheep.
“When Dolly the Sheep was produced at Roslin, she opened up a new world of possibilities,” Blake Russell said. “The founder of ViaGen was John Sperling. I was contacted in the beginning by Dr. Sperling and asked to commercialize this technology. I was amazed by the potential of cloning technology to impact the world in many ways, and I felt I was ready for a new challenge.”
Blake Russell saw the challenges and concerns associated with joining a startup company, he said. However, the opportunity to highlight newly developed, advanced reproductive technology heightened his excitement, he said.
Twenty years later, Blake Russell leads ViaGen Pets and Equine, which is considered a world leader in mammalian cloning, he said.
ViaGen Pets and Equine is paving the way for reproductive technological advancements, including somatic cell nuclear transfer, sexed semen sorting, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, and the use of biotechnology to support conservation, Blake Russell added.
“The ViaGen team has provided cloning services for more than 20 years, and we are the most accomplished team in the world,” Blake Russell said. “This team is unmatched in experience and commitment.”
ViaGen Pets and Equine has recovered several endangered species through the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer and holds the exclusive license to sexed semen sorting for equine ICSI, a revolutionary discovery for the equine industry, he said.
“We have produced healthy cloned offspring from a dozen species,” he said. “We continue to advance our field with innovative approaches to genetic preservation techniques and cloning new conservation species.”
Lexie Russell, daughter of Blake and Julie Russell, watched the advanced reproductive technologies and genetics emerge in the hands of her father and the ViaGen team, she said.
“Lexie found her passion for horses at a very early age,” Julie Russell said. “She wanted to spend every waking minute with her horses, and when she wasn’t riding them, she wanted to talk about them.”
At 8 years old, Lexie Russell became fascinated with the breeding and cloning process, she said.
“When my dad joined ViaGen, he wanted a clone of his own,” Lexie Russell said. “So, my dad went to my grandpa and his racehorse training buddies at the coffee shop.”
Blake Russell asked for input on the group’s top choices of racehorses to clone. He came away with a list of suggested horses, and $1.2 million Quarter Horse Tailor Fit was at the top of the list.
The group suggested starting at the No. 2 horse on the list, knowing the unfavorable odds of acquiring cloning rights to Tailor Fit, Lexie Russell said.
Tailor Fit was recognized as the American Quarter Horse representative in the Hall of Champions in 2004.
“My dad ended up getting the cloning rights to Tailor Fit,” Lexie Russell said. “When I was 8 years old, Pure Tailor Fit, was born, and I was in absolute awe of him. I didn’t understand the science behind cloning, but I knew something cool was happening.”
Lexie Russell’s paternal grandpa JR “Bob” Russell inspired her devotion to racehorses and the horse industry because of his passion for it, she said.
“My grandpa was my best friend,” Lexie Russell said. “The fact he was in so much awe over Tailor Fit, the science behind cloning, and that we were about to produce his clone, I knew the science must be special. This was my first taste of how the breeding industry really does something cool.”
Bob Russell and the development of Pure Tailor Fit inspired the establishment of Lexie Russell’s performance horse production, Coffee Cup Horses, she said.
“Grandpa Bob was Blake’s dad, and he was the real deal as far as cowboys go,” Julie Russell said. “When it came time for Lexie to brand some of her horses, she took some time and one day she said she knew what she wanted the brand to be: a coffee cup — a tribute to her Grandpa Bob.”
Her passion for the breeding industry continued to grow, she said, and by third grade, she knew this was the path destined for her.
“In third grade, I dressed up as an OSU vet student for Halloween,” Lexie Russell said. “I decided I was going to be a veterinarian.”
Julie Russell monogrammed scrubs for Lexie saying ‘Dr. Lexie Russell, DVM Oklahoma State University Veterinary School’ across the top.
“Lexie used to tell us her dream was to have her veterinary practice on both sides of the Red River,” Julie Russell said. “Well, she is living that dream. She has her recipient mare herd in Stillwater, north of the Red River, and we have the recipient herd in Gainesville, south of the Red River.”
Growing up surrounded by equine reproduction and cloning technologies, Lexie Russell developed a profound love for the equine reproductive industry and its possibilities, she said.
“With my dad so involved in the horse industry, I became consumed with everything breeding-related, mostly on the mare-and-foal side,” Lexie Russell said. “I had the opportunity to be around some great veterinarians. I learned a lot at a very young age about what it takes to have a successful breeding operation.”
Lexie Russell brought her love for the horse industry and rodeo with her to Stillwater when she became a member of the OSU Rodeo Team, earning several accolades in breakaway roping and barrel racing.
“I qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo four of the five years on the rodeo team in breakaway roping, including one year as a full-time vet student,” Lexie Russell said.
Lexie Russell’s younger years of watching the evolution of the breeding industry guided her path and her current pursuits as a third-year OSU veterinary student.
Prior to Lexie Russell’s decision to enroll at OSU, she met with Mellissa Crosswhite, animal and food sciences assistant professor.
“At this point, I wasn’t fully convinced I wanted to go to OSU,” Lexie Russell said. “I sat down for an hour with Dr. Crosswhite, and after the meeting, there was nowhere else I was going to go. She had me hooked on OSU. I left that room 110% certain OSU is where I need to be.”
Lexie Russell pursued her childhood aspiration of becoming an OSU veterinary student after graduating with a major in animal science.
As Lexie Russell prepares to complete a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine, she is ambitious to give owners the joy she felt when she was 8 years old, she said.
“I am excited to get out and start serving clients,” Lexie Russell said. “I can’t wait to see the joy on their faces when a foal I helped create is born. That’s what makes it all worth it.”
Moving forward, the father-daughter duo plan to work together to continue improving the industry, Blake Russell said.
Lexie Russell plans to expand ViaGen post-graduation by providing the equine industry with a full-service embryo transfer and recipient mare facility. She also plans to grow the current ViaGen mare population of 300 recipient mares to 1,000 mares, she said.
“I am fortunate Lexie will soon be working alongside me in this business,” Blake Russell said. “She is smarter, more energetic and more engaging than I am.
“Hopefully, this work will play a role in helping her achieve her goals and dreams,” he added. “We continue to devote our time in building a world-class team to carry this business forward.”
Story by Regan Davis | Cowboy Journal