The Qinghai-Xizang Plateau in China.

Scientists in China have successfully cloned two endangered local cattle breeds, Chinese media outlets have reported.

An article in Chinese state-owned media outlet Global Timesreported overnight that the world’s first cloned endangered Xizang cattle species have been born.

The reports cited a local government official from  Southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region who made the announcement in a WeChat post yesterday.

China has successfully #cloned both Zhangmu cattle and Apeijiaza cattle, two endangered breeds found in SW China’s Xizang, scientists announced Mon.
4 male calves of each breed were recently born in Chongqing, marking the world’s 1st successful cloning of cattle from Xizang. pic.twitter.com/M176Y40s3c

— China Focus (@China__Focus) January 29, 2024

The report said somatic cell cloning technology was used to successfully breed clones of the endangered cattle breeds Zhangmu cattle and Apeijiaza cattle, which are found on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.

Yu Dawei, a researcher from the Beijing institute of animal husbandry and veterinary medicine of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that researchers collected the ear tissue of Zhangmu cattle and Apeijiaza cattle, established a fibroblast cell line after returning to the laboratory, and then used somatic cell nuclear transfer technology to prepare clones embryos, the Global Times reported.

The cloned embryos were then transplanted into surrogate cows, and after full-term pregnancy, eight cloned cows were successfully produced.

“In 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the National Animal Husbandry Station, and relevant Xizang departments urgently launched a rescue and protection operation for Zhangmu cattle and Apeijiaza cattle, collected blood samples of the two types of cattle, and completed whole-genome resequencing data collection, and finally achieved the rescue and protection of endangered cattle breeds in Xizang through somatic cell conservation, cloned embryo restoration and other technologies,” the article stated.

“Looking ahead, authorities will carry out cloned embryo transplantation of Zhangmu cattle and Apeijiaza cattle in Xizang, combining cloning technology with conventional breeding technology to build a complete genetic system and improve resource protection and utilization system.”