The National Institute of Animal Sciences under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced Sunday that four baby Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs have been reproduced through a cloning technique involving somatic cells derived from ear tissues.

The Vietnamese pot-bellied pig is a traditional, domestic breed reared for meat. It is native to northern Vietnam, with their characteristic black and wrinkled skin. Though it is not considered to bring in high economic value, its meat is regarded to be of high quality. The FAO has classified the pig as an endangered breed.

Pham Cong Thieu, head of the animal sciences institute, said the “birth” of the baby pigs was a technological leap for Vietnam in animal cloning.

This outstanding achievement has opened up new research opportunities to apply animal cloning technology in breeding, preserving rare and valuable animals as well as creating livestock resistant to diseases and the impacts of climate change. It could also help to create cloned pigs for organ transplants in the future, he said.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer technology was successfully carried out for the first time in 1996 in the UK, where scientists created Dolly the sheep.

According to VnExpress