MOSCOW, September 25 (RIA Novosti) – Commercial cloning of the Tibetan Mastiff, an ancient domestic dog breed, is underway in China via a joint venture between the Boya Life and Sooam Biotech Research Foundation of South Korea, Xinhua news reported Thursday.
The joint venture was formally set up Wednesday in Weihai City in east China's Shandong Province, where three pureblooded Tibetan Mastiff puppies were born from a surrogate mother.
The puppies were cloned from Jiama, an 8-year-old shaggy, lion-like Mastiff native to southwest China's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Jiama has won several championships for her breed and is considered one of the world's most expensive dogs, having been sold for as high as $2.4 million, according to Xinhua.
Tibetan herders have traditionally used Tibetan Mastiffs as shepherd dogs due to their fierce but loyal nature. However, trends are changing, and those who can afford the animals more commonly keep them as pets and guard dogs.
Cloning is a controversial issue and prior to Wednesday's announcement, cloning was performed only for scientific research in China.
According to a statement on the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation"s website, "an average lifespan of a dog is about 10 to 15 years, much shorter than that of a human being," adding that the foundations is, "able to prolong the companionship with your dog," through safe cloning processes.
This process is done by obtaining live cells from the organism in question, either alive or no later than five days after its death.
