At first glance, these frisky dogs are no different from ordinary ones. However, these are their exact copies, cloned in China. Only four companies in the world are engaged in such activities, SinoGene is one of them.
The process begins within the walls of the laboratory – in a Petri dish, Chinese scientists first grow cells that are one hundred percent identical to the prototype. At a certain time, they are planted with a surrogate mother who carries the embryo. At the same time, it does not matter at all who will bear whom, although most often the dog becomes the “mother” of puppies, and the cat – kittens.
In contrast to Europe, in China, animal experiments are treated with loyalty, especially given the growing demand for cloned pets. Although the “pleasure” is not cheap: SinoGene asks for about 35 thousand euros for cloning a cat, and more than 50 thousand for a dog. Mi Jidong, CEO of the company, says:
“The difference with Europe, America and Japan remains huge. China has over a billion people, but only 100 million pets. I see a sharp demand for them, especially for cats. I think this is due to the pandemic.”
The company doesn’t stop at cloning just pets. Last September, Chinese scientists were the first in the world to clone an endangered Arctic wolf. The cells were taken from the skin of a Maya wolf living in Harbin National Park, and the embryo was carried out by a beagle dog. SinoGene plans to clone pandas and tigers.
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