Recently, a "cloned cow" bred by the dairy cow seed industry innovation team of Northwest A&F University was successfully born. This is the first time in China that somatic cell cloning technology is used to restore and preserve the germplasm of 100 tons of excellent individuals in the existing population, and it is used for efficient breeding of fine-bred dairy cattle. It has achieved a new breakthrough in the core and key role of somatic cell cloning technology in the cultivation of fine-bred dairy cattle .
The newborn cloned dairy cow weighed 56.7 kg, was 76 cm tall, and 113 cm oblique. It began to eat colostrum half an hour after birth. It was clinically healthy, and its body shape and color were exactly the same as those of the somatic cell donor cow. At present, the base has successively given birth to 3 cloned cows.
The reporter learned that this batch of cloned dairy cows was based on production performance records and body shape assessments. Star cows with high yield, longevity, and stress resistance were selected from the group. Ear tissue was collected, skin fibroblasts were cultivated, and cloned embryos were produced through nuclear transfer. Embryo transplantation was carried out to make it a core member of the 100-ton star cattle group. The initial pregnancy rate of the first batch of 120 cloned embryos transferred reached 42%, and the pregnancy rate after 200 days reached 17.5%. It marks the further maturity of this technology in practical application. For the first time, cloning technology has been successfully used in the key link of dairy cow breeding, reaching the international advanced level. After the successful application of the technology, it is another major breakthrough in the field of dairy cow breeding technology.
Jin Yaping, a professor at Northwest A&F University, said, "The application of somatic cell cloning technology in new fields avoids the biosafety risks of introducing live cattle, and greatly saves the high-quality germplasm resources that are on the verge of being eliminated. Good super dairy cows are reborn and expanded to form a breeding group of super high-yielding dairy cows, which provides high-quality resources for breeding domestically-owned fine-bred cows and reserve bulls with independent intellectual property rights."
