China successfully clones 4,000-year-old pig breed

Chinese researchers have successfully cloned a 4,000-year-old breed of pig in an effort to preserve its genetic material for food and medicine.

Clones born in late January

Two piglets have reportedly been cloned from a 4,000-year-old breed of pig that has faced intense competition from foreign breeds.

Called the Shaziling breed of pig, the clones were born via surrogate mother on January 24, 2025, and are currently thriving.

A major achievement

The successful cloning of these piglets is a breakthrough not only in science and biotechnology, but also for China itself.

Over the past decade, the country has been looking for ways to preserve its local livestock breeds through biotechnology, but without much progress.

Shaziling pigs were once an important food product in Hunan province, but in recent years have almost disappeared due to industrial foreign breeds flooding Chinese farms.

The breed was later added to China's National List of Animal Genetic Resources Protection in 2006, highlighting its importance as an excellent source of pork.

Cloning experiment begins in 2024

The Xiangtan City Animal Breeding Station initiated the cloning process as a way to preserve the breed's genetic resources.

With the support of a team of scientists from the Chinese Academy of Engineering led by researcher Yin Yulong, they began a somatic cell cloning experiment in June 2024.

Using frozen ear tissue cells from Shaziling pigs, they created fibroblast cells, which led to the successful creation, cultivation, transplantation and birth of an embryo.

According to Tan Hong, head of the breeding station, the two piglets show the characteristic features of the Shaziling breed, such as a short snout, butterfly-shaped ears and cow-like eyes.

Not only for food

Tan Hong also emphasized that the piglets will serve not only as a source of healthy and high-quality meat. They will also have an important role in medicine.

Their medical role is due to the anatomical, physiological, immunological and genomic similarities between pigs and humans, which have been confirmed by many scientists, as well as their high level of biosafety.

Wu Maisheng, a researcher at the Xiangtan City Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, also revealed that in a 2005 study in Hunan, the success rate of using Shaziling pig islet cells to treat diabetes reached as high as 95.45 percent.