Chinese scientists announced on March 7 that they have produced the country's first batch of adult clones, with five calves being alive.

The non-sexual technique used to create the calf was similar to that used to produce Dolly, the world's first adult clone whose karyon was transferred from an adult cell.

Genetic detection showed that the cloned animals are almost exact copies of two karyon providers, said a research team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) led by geneticist Chen Dayuan.

China is the fourth country, following Japan, New Zealand and the United States, to use the most advanced method to give birth to creatures.

(China Daily March 7, 2002)