Chinese scientists have succeeded in cloning giant panda's reproductive hormone gene, with the aim of improving the animal's ability to breed in artificial conditions.
The achievement was released at a recent meeting on panda's breeding technology, held in Chengdu, capital city of southwest China's Sichuan province.
The research was conducted jointly by the scientists from Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Center and a key laboratory of cell and gene engineering at Zhejiang University in eastern Zhejiang Province.
Most female pandas living in an artificial environment have dysfunctional reproductive organs and fail to produce eggs in a normal way, leading to an inability to breeding, giant panda expert Zhang Anju said.
About 30 percent of female pandas in artificial environments are able to become pregnant and produce offspring, while only 10 percent of male pandas enjoy a natural mating life.
The cloning of the hormone gene can be used to modulate egg production and build up their enthusiasm, improving breeding ability, Zhang said.
Giant pandas, the world oldest and most endangered species, usually encounter difficulties in mating and pregnancy, and suffer high infant mortality when they are enclosed.
Some 1,000 giant pandas are living in the wild, scattered in the mountains in China's Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai provinces.
According to forestry authority statistics, about 110 giant pandas are raised in artificial environments throughout the world.
(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2002)
