Chinese scientists successfully clone yak

A staff member inspects a cloned yak at a yak breeding base in Damxung County, southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, July 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)

A cloned yak was born via caesarean section on Thursday at a yak breeding base in Damxung County, southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, researchers have said.

The cloned calf weighed 33.5 kg at birth, heavier than most yak newborns, according to the researchers.

Xinhua reporters saw the calf, which has a completely black coat, at the breeding base on Friday. It was able to walk and in good health.

The project began in July 2023 as a joint initiative by a research team from Zhejiang University in east China, the Damxung County government and the Institute of Plateau Biology of Xizang Autonomous Region.

The scientists used whole-genome selection and somatic cell cloning technologies to produce the cloned yak.

Fang Shengguo, who led the research team from Zhejiang University, said that cloning technology will play a key role in improving yak breeds and building a breeding system for high-altitude livestock in Xizang.

Yaks are endemic to the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, serving as both key livelihood assets for local herding communities and an integral component of the plateau’s ecosystem. ■

This photo taken on July 11, 2025 shows a cloned yak at a yak breeding base in Damxung County, southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 11, 2025 shows a yak breeding base in Damxung County, southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)

This photo taken on July 11, 2025 shows a cloned yak at a yak breeding base in Damxung County, southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 11, 2025 shows a yak breeding base in Damxung County, southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)

This photo taken on July 10, 2025 shows a cloned yak (front) at a yak breeding base in Damxung County, southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)

Staff members inspect a cloned yak at a yak breeding base in Damxung County, southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, July 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)

Reference Link:- https://english.news.cn/20250711/7ff91f82466f4147ba96106db156fcb7/c.html

Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan Founder & Chair, Global Silk Route Research Alliance

Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…

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