Chinese government had on Tuesday signed a deal to establish a 31-million-dollar commercial animal cloning centre in the northern port city of Tianjin.

Xu Xiaochun, the Board Chairman of Boyalife Group in Wuxi, East China’s Jiangsu Province, said the establishment would put an end to the controversy of science not getting closer to mainstream acceptance.

He said the establishment had become imperative because Chinese farmers were struggling to produce enough cattle beef to meet market demand.

“The centre, the largest such facility worldwide, will also include a gene storage area and a museum.

Xiaochun added that Sinica, a subsidiary of Boyalife Group, which focuses on stem cell and regenerative medicine, has signed a similar agreement.

The board chairman said the cloning centre, under construction would clone animals including sniffer and pet dogs, cattle and racehorses.

Xiaochun said the animals would be used for commercial services, to improve breeds and to increase the supply of food products to meet consumer demands.

He said the factory would initially produce 100,000 cattle embryos a year and will aim to increase the number to 1 million.

“The main building is already under construction and due to be put into use in the first half of 2016.’’

Xiaochun said the centre would be jointly built by Sinica, Peking University’s Institute of Molecular Medicine, the Tianjin International Joint Academy of Biomedicine, and the Republic of Korea’s Sooam Biotech Research Foundation.

Scientists have cloned mice, cattle and other animals since the world’s first cloned sheep, Dolly, was born on July 5, 1996 in Britain.
Since 2000, Chinese scientists have cloned sheep, cattle and pigs.

China’s first commercial cloning company was established in September 2014 in the eastern Shandong Province with the birth of three pure-blooded Tibetan mastiff puppies.

More and more companies have shown interest in investing in the technology for commercial use, especially animal husbandry.

(Xinhua/NAN)