China Agricultural University has successfully cloned a mini pig
from a single body cell. It is the first cloned pig to be
independently developed by Chinese scientists.
The university announced the birth of the piglet at about 10:50
AM on August 5 at the Minghui Pig Raising Company in Sanhe, Hebei
Province.
The little porker weighed in at 1.13 kg.
The project, which involved more than a year of intensive
research, was sponsored by the "973" program and the Beijing Nature
and Science Fund.
China is the seventh country to have successfully cloned pigs,
after Britain, Japan, the US, Australia, South Korea and
Germany.
Professor Li Ning, head of the research group that cloned the
pig, said that the cloning technique used is extremely important as
far as medical research is concerned. It will contribute to the
research on organ transplants between humans and animals.
In the field of agriculture, it will help to improve the pig
species.
(China.org.cn by Li Xiaohua, August 9, 2005)
