The animals descend from Friesian breed specimens and have been bred in the Chinese region of Ningxia, according to media reports from the Asian country.
Chinese scientists have successfully cloned three ‘supercows’, as reported by the state media of the Asian country. The calves were raised by scientists from the Northwest University of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences and Technology and were born weeks ago in the Ningxia region, according to CNN.
The scientists created 120 cloned embryos from ear cells of highly productive Friesian cows and implanted them in other specimens. The calves born will be able to produce 18 tons of milk a year or about 100 tons throughout their lives. An amount that represents 170% of the average produced by these same animals in the United States in 2021, according to data from the North American country.
Jin Yaping, the project’s lead scientist, described the birth of supercows as a “breakthrough” that will allow China to preserve the most productive specimens “in an economically viable way,” reports the state-run Global Times newspaper.
The scientist estimates a timeframe of “two to three years to build a herd consisting of more than 1,000 ‘supercows,’ as a solid foundation for addressing China’s reliance on dairy cows from abroad” and helping to circumvent the risk of disruptions in the supply. According to Global Times, 70% of China’s dairy cows are now imported from abroad.
In many countries, including the United States, farmers breed clones with conventional animals to add desirable traits, such as high milk yield or disease resistance, to the genetic material. China has also made significant progress in animal cloning in recent years.
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