Cloning may save the world's "living fossil" from possible extinction, as the world's biggest panda cell bank has been established in China.

The somatic cells of 21 living pandas and 5 dead pandas are being preserved in the cell bank in Chengdu city in southeast China's Sichuan Province, according to CCTV.com.

Scientists say the bank will gradually expand its collection to include the cell samples of all the 161 pandas living in reserves around China. There are some 1,700 giant pandas living in the wild in China, most of them in 20 areas of 6 mountains. But their reproduction and survival abilities are declining due to inbreeding and loss of hereditary characteristics.

Scientists say successful cloning of the giant panda would be a significant step toward saving the endangered species from extinction.

(CCTV.com August 30, 2004)