Chinese lab cloned first wild arctic wolf

at the end of September, a Beijing-based gene company, Chinesefirst announced clone a wild arctic wolf — the animal spent 100 days in the laboratory. Sinogene Biotechnology Co, the company that conducted the experiment, says it supports the use of the technology to save rare and endangered animals.

this The wolf named Maya was born on June 10, 2022. and it was cloned using a skin sample from a wild arctic wolf. Experts say the cloning technology applied to the wild Arctic wolf is a milestone for science and will be of great importance for the conservation of several animal species.

The scientists used 137 embryos to develop the clone using nucleated oocytes from a female dog and somatic cells, and then transferred 85 embryos into the womb – Maya’s surrogate mother was a Beagle.

The cloned wolf currently resides with his stepmother Beagle in a lab in eastern China, and the company has also reportedly uncovered a cloned male wild Arctic wolf.

animal clone

“To save the endangered animal, we started a research collaboration with Harbin Polarland on the cloning of the polar wolf in 2020. After two years of painstaking work, the polar wolf was successfully cloned. This is the first such case in the world,” Mi Jidong, general manager of Sinogene Biotechnology Co., at a press conference told.

Despite good intentions, some scientists are still skeptical about the use of cloning technology in animals. World Animal Protection researcher Sun Quanhui told the website: Global Times that cloning technology is still at an early stage and technical and ethical issues still need to be discussed.