Surrogate sow gives birth to 9 cloned pigs in a single litter, setting a world record

On New Year's Day, January 1, keepers at the breeding pig farm of Harbin Sanyuan Livestock Industry Co., Ltd. carefully fed 6 small cloned pigs. The photo with the nursing bottle shows the careful feeding of the two weaker cloned piglets to ensure their healthy growth. On the evening of December 23, 2006, surrogate sow k09, studied by the research group led by Dr. Liu Zhonghua, professor at Northeast Agricultural University, gave birth naturally to 9 cloned Northeast Min pigs, setting a world record for the number of cloned piglets born in a single litter. All 9 cloned pigs were Northeast Min pigs, and 6 of them were in good health and were able to suckle within half an hour after birth. Internationally, the number of cloned piglets born in a single litter is generally low, averaging fewer than 4. This time, one surrogate sow gave birth to 9 cloned pigs, and they were produced through natural delivery, which is unprecedented in the history of cloned pigs worldwide. The birth of this litter of cloned Northeast Min pigs shows that the Animal Embryo Engineering Laboratory of Northeast Agricultural University has reached an internationally advanced level in cloned pig technology.