Chinese scientists have cloned two live Tibetan goats from adult goats body cells in northwest China's Qinghai Province, in an effort to prevent the plateau livestock breed from degenerating.

Under the program led by a research team of the Northwest A&F University, three rams and one ewe were used as cell donors for the clones.

"Two cloned goats have been born in Qinghai. The first-born weighed 3.4 kg and is healthy," said Su Jianmin, the chief scientist leading the cloning program, adding that the cloning research made in Qinghai can help the breed sustain its adaptivity to the plateau environment after birth.

Ma Yuehui, a researcher at the Institute of Animal Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that the cloning in the plateau environment is a major breakthrough in the field of Tibetan goat breeding technology, and of great significance for the improvement of the quality and efficiency of the Tibetan goat breeding industry.

Tibetan goat is an important cash livestock in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Su's team has been working with the Xining municipal animal disease prevention and control center since 2018 to carry out the embryo engineering application technology research on Tibetan yak and goat.

Zhang Chengtu, a researcher from the center, said the research program will help promote the good varieties of Tibetan goats and boost the income of farmers and herdsmen.

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