Boyalife Group, a Chinese based company, believes that it has the technology necessary for human replication. The company is currently building the world’s largest cloning factory and is set to begin cloning cows later this year. The firm’s technology is so advanced that it could actually replicate humans as well. The only thing holding them from doing so is public perception.
The new cloning plant is under construction at the port of Tianjin, China. Production should begin at the plant within the next few months. The goal is to clone one million cows a year by 2020.
According to chief executive Xu Xiaochun, the group has its sights on cloning more than just cattle. The factory intends to produce thoroughbred racehorses and dogs as well. Furthermore, they will be partnering with a South Korean company along with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in an effort to improve their primate cloning capacity.
The next step after animals is to apply cloning technology on humans. “The technology is already there,” says Xu. “If this is allowed, I don’t think there are other companies better than Boyalife that makes better technology.”
The company is not currently engaged in human cloning activities, mostly because they fear a public backlash if they were to pursue it. But Xu contents that social values are subject to change, particularly in terms of people having more of a choice in reproduction.
“Unfortunately, currently, the only way to have a child is to have it be half its mum, half its dad,” said Xu. “You either have fifty-fifty, or you have a choice of having the genetics 100 percent from Daddy or 100 percent from Mummy. This is only a choice.”
Xu believes that cloning could be a safeguard of biodiversity with the Tianjin facility to house a gene bank that will be able to hold up to five million samples in liquid nitrogen. This would serve as a catalogue of endangered species allowing for the possibility of regenerating them down the road.