According to the South China Morning Post, a fully automated cloning technique has been developed recently, and reports indicate that it functions very well. It is believed that the AI-powered method has significantly decreased the number of mistakes noticed during attempts to manually clone organisms, which is somewhat of a cruel blow to human scientists.
This technology, developed by researchers at the University of Nankai’s College of Artificial Intelligence, enabled the conception of seven piglets via traditional surrogacy sow, without any human interference, according to the scientists who spoke to the newspaper. If successful, these technological innovations lead to commercially produced cloning becoming the standard practice.
The process of cloning, carried out in the vast majority of cases using something referred to as a somatic cell nuclear transfer, is both delicate and time-intensive. Cells are readily harmed along the route, and both human error and the overall tediousness of the operation have been critical barriers to the industrialization of the process.
Pan Dengke, one of the researchers, grieved to the SCMP that his many years of hard hours crouched over microscopic cells had resulted in back issues and that automation may ease some of the hurtings.
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In China, pork plays a very significant role, and President Xi Jinping of China places an essential priority on ensuring that all aspects of food security are addressed. The hog business is recovering from an outbreak of the African swine virus in 2018-19, which had a significant impact on the breeding stock of the company.
However, pork remains the most popular meat in the country. According to Reuters, the sector has been attempting to reestablish its self-sufficiency since the loss of so many healthy sows led to an increased demand for breeding imports. Since then, the business has been trying to replace lost sows.
In an interview with the SCMP, Liu expressed his optimism that the efficient and automated cloning technique will result in pig stock that is of a higher grade and more readily available to the general public, contributing to the country’s efforts to become more self-sufficient.
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It would unquestionably be of great benefit to make food available to a more significant number of people, as this would attract more customers. However, because cloning animals for commercial purposes is not yet common practice, the entire scope of the implications resulting from this development are not yet known.
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