China’s New Animal Cloning Center

Last week, the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area management committee announced plans to open a new animal cloning center. Though cloning research began in the 19 century,it became a reality in 1996, when Scottish scientists successfully cloned the first mammal, Dolly the sheep. Cloning experiments subsequently expanded to cats, cattle, and pigs.

Previously, Chinese scientists were limited to research on animal cloning. However, this policy has changed as a growing number of companies have shown interest in investing in cloning. A breakthrough occurred in 2014 when Chinese scientists successfully cloned three purebred Tibetan dogs, marking the beginning of China’s venture into cloning.

The intended investment of 200 million yuan ($31 million) will allow the Yingke Boya Genetic Technologies company to host the government-sponsored center in the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development area. The announcement is the result of  an international effort that is sponsored by Sinica, Peking University's Institute of Molecular Medicine; the Tianjin International Joint Academy of Biomedicine; and South Korea's Sooam Biotech Research Foundation.

The center, slated for completion by June 2016, will include a 15,000 square meter laboratory, a gene bank, an animal center, and a science and education exhibition hall. It will focus on cloning pet dogs, cattle, racehorses, and non-human primates.

Unsurprisingly, ethical questions have arisen. However, since the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), a genome-sequencing center in China, started to commercially clone pigs, scientists have adopted a progressive stance to justify large scale cloning.

BGI’s chief executive Wang Jun explains that three important criteria for cloning are taste, appearance, and potential for industrial use. For these scientists, cloning does not cheat the laws of nature; rather, it is a way to satisfy popular demand.

Cattle will be a major focus of the plant, as China must meet the growing demand for food. The center has initial plans to create 100,000 cattle embryos per year, with long-run goal of one million embryos per year. Additionally, as China’s upper class continues to grow, its members desire stylish dogs to fit their lifestyle, a demand the center will also attempt to meet.

However, this announcement comes at a time when animal cloning has been met with resistance. Last year, the European Parliament voted to ban all farm-animal cloning and distribution of any cloned animal products. European lawmakers argue that consumers would feel uncomfortable purchasing cloned-animal products, and that cloning negatively impacts animal welfare. Studies show that cloned animals have low long-term survival rates. Dolly the sheep, for example, survived a mere 6 years, half a sheep’s typical life expectancy.

Despite these objections, China continues to forge ahead and capitalize on public demand. Clearly, cloning is no longer a myth of science fiction.