Ten months after a 16-year-old Arctic wolf named Maya died at a zoo in northern China, a new "Maya" was born through cloning technology.
Using a beagle dog as the gestational carrier, Beijing-based Sinogene Biotechnology said they have successfully cloned an Arctic wolf, the "world's first" of its kind.
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Chinese scientists hail the successful procedure as a milestone achievement in preserving endangered wildlife and rare species. /AFP
"It is relatively easier to clone canines and cats, we'll continue to work in this field. In the next step, we may clone rare wild animals other than canines or cats, which may require the use of heterogeneous cloning technology, and it will be more difficult," explained Zhao Jianping, Deputy General Manager of Sinogene.
Despite being "doomed" to grow up far away from other Arctic wolves, Chinese scientists hail the successful procedure as a milestone achievement in preserving endangered wildlife and rare species.
In 2019, the Chinese firm announced the creation of "Garlic", the company's first successfully cloned cat.
"The newly born wolf has the same genome as the original wolf, but the cloned wolf hasn't lived with other wolves, but with a dog," added Jianping. "In fact, for cloned pet dogs and cats, there is also a problem of early socialisation. The earlier the socialisation, the more beneficial for its future development."