China ‘clone factory’ scientist eyes human replication

Boyalife Group and its partners are building a giant cloning factory in Tianjin, which will aim for an output of one million cloned cows a year by 2020
The Chinese scientist behind the world’s biggest cloning factory has technology advanced enough to replicate humans, he told AFP, and is only holding off for fear of the public reaction.

But cattle are only the beginning of chief executive Xu Xiaochun’s ambitions.

In the factory pipeline are also thoroughbred racehorses, as well as pet and police dogs, specialised in searching and sniffing.

Boyalife is already working with its South Korean partner Sooam and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to improve primate cloning capacity to create better test animals for disease research.

And it is a short biological step from monkeys to humans—potentially raising a host of moral and ethical controversies.

“The technology is already there,” Xu said. “If this is allowed, I…