A major bovine cloning program in China has been declared successful by a panel of experts. The thumps-up signals the country's research in cow cloning is on par with that of international leaders.
The program is the joint brainchild of Chinese and Australian researchers. Scientists artificially inseminated 479 cows with cloned embryos. Among them, 57 fell pregnant. Only 31 calves were born and just 12 stayed alive.
Initial DNA tests by Urumqi-based Xinjiang University and a Shanghai-based company show the calves are genuine clones. China began research into animal cloning in the late 1990's.
Its first two cloned calves were born in Shandong Province in November 2001.
Through artificial insemination, one of the two also gave birth to a healthy calf in October this year.
(CCTV.com November 26, 2003)
