Recently, a press conference on the results of "Tibetan Yak Whole Genome Selection and Somatic Cloning Composite Breeding Technology" was held in Damxung County, Lhasa City. The results were jointly released by Zhejiang University, the Tibet Autonomous Region Plateau Biology Institute, the Tibet Autonomous Region Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center (District Animal Husbandry Station) and the Damxung County People's Government.
The "whole genome selection + somatic cell cloning composite technology" independently developed by a Chinese scientific research team has made a major breakthrough in the field of yak breeding, and the overall technology ranks among the leading domestic and internationally advanced levels.
On July 10, 2025, the team used this technology to successfully breed the world's first somatic cell cloned yak - Namco 1#, marking an original breakthrough from "0 to 1" in the bottleneck of traditional Tibetan yak breeding. Namco 1# weighed 33.5 kilograms when he was born, and reached 366.5 kilograms at 286 days old.
From March 25 to April 5, 2026, the second batch of cloned yaks achieved mass conception of 10 yaks, and all gave birth naturally. They successfully passed the "from 1 to 10" small-scale application verification, laying a solid foundation for subsequent mass production and industrial promotion.
On the same day, the Lhasa Yak Germplasm Protection and Breeding Technology Innovation Center was unveiled at the Yangbajing Yak Breed Expansion Base in Damxung County at an altitude of 4,300 meters. The base is also the Tibetan (Dangxung) golden wild yak breeding research base. Reporters saw at the scene that 11 young yaks born through whole-genome somatic cell cloning technology were strong, lively and healthy.
The yak industry is one of the nine major industries focused on development in Tibet during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. Traditional yak breeding relies on phenotypic selection, with a cycle of up to 20 years, which is inefficient and prone to degradation.The application of new technologies will effectively solve key problems such as germplasm degradation, slow expansion of improved varieties, and low industrial efficiency. It has multiple values such as technological breakthroughs, improvement of people's livelihood, economic growth, and ecological protection.
Tibet has a variety of local germplasm resources such as Nyangya yaks, Pali yaks, Sibu yaks, Leiwuqi yaks, Chawula yaks, and Tibetan alpine yaks. Among them, the golden-threaded wild yak is a rare and endangered species under national first-level protection. Currently, there are only more than 300 left in the region.
Through somatic cell preservation and cloning technology, it is possible to achieve zero-loss replication of living germplasm, safeguard Tibet’s unique and non-renewable genetic resource sovereignty, and at the same time promote the rejuvenation and recovery of the golden wild yak and wild blood yak populations. At present, the expert team has constructed more than 200 somatic cell cloned embryos of golden wild yak and wild blood yak, laying a solid foundation for subsequent embryo transplantation and the protection of endangered species.
The implementation of new technologies will create positions throughout the industry chain such as improved seed breeding, embryo transplantation, technical services, breeding training, intensive processing, and brand marketing, and attract herdsmen to participate in technology promotion and standardized breeding.Herdsmen will shift from the traditional "raising and selling cattle" to a diversified income-increasing model of "breeding + processing + services", promoting the transformation from traditional producers to modern industrial operators.
At the same time, this technology will help build a modern yak seed industry system, build a national-level breeding base, gene bank and cloning and propagation center, create a new growth pole for the plateau's characteristic economy, form an independent and controllable yak seed industry brand in Tibet, and enhance the added value and core competitiveness of the industry.
