Researchers in China have developed a process to automate the cloning of pigs using AI-controlled robots to help with a food crisis the country is facing following a swine-flu outbreak that impacted its pork industry. China reportedly had to import 3.31 million metric tons of pork in 2021. A previous process for cloning required humans to implant the donor’s DNA into an egg cell by hand. Researchers in March said they were able to produce seven piglets from one sow. The new process could enable China’s pork industry to become fully self-sufficient.
“Our AI-powered system can calculate the strain within a cell and direct the robot to use minimal force to complete the cloning process, which reduces the cell damage caused by human hands.” -Liu Yaowei (Nankai University researcher)
Sources: South China Morning Post (via Newsbreak, GFR)