A Beijing-based gene firm has successfully cloned a wild Arctic wolf for the first time, said reports.

Sinogene Biotechnology recently shared a video of Maya, the first cloned wild Arctic wolf, 100 days after her birth at a Beijing lab. The company said Maya, who was born on June 10, was in good health.

The feat is being considered a milestone in conservation of rare and endangered species through cloning technology.

The Arctic wolf is also known as the white wolf or polar wolf. They are found in the High Arctic tundra regions of Canada’s Queen Elizabeth Islands.

Also read: Japanese researchers may have found a way to save endangered species from extinction

Sinogene started research on cloning Arctic wolves in 2020. “After two years of painstaking efforts, the Arctic wolf was cloned successfully. It is the first case of its kind in the world,” the Global Times quoted Mi Jidong, General Manager of Sinogene Biotechnology, as saying.

Maya’s donor cell came from the skin sample of a wild female Arctic wolf, while its oocyte came from a female dog. Maya’s surrogate mother is a beagle, a dog breed, Global Times reported. A beagle was selected for surrogacy as it shared genetic ancestry with ancient wolves.

Also read: China’s monkeypox advisory warns citizens not to touch foreigners, faces backlash

The process started with the construction of 137 new embryos from enucleated (process of removing the nucleus from a cell) oocytes and somatic cells. The next step was to transfer 85 embryos to the uteri of seven beagles. Of these, only one was born as a healthy wolf.

Maya now lives with her surrogate mother in a lab of Sinogene. She will be later delivered to the Harbin Polarland, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, where she will be displayed to the public, the Global Times report said.

Also read: How many ants are there on Earth? 20 million billion, estimates a new study

Cloning technology was first used to create a sheep named Dolly in 1996 by a Scottish scientist. Dolly was created by using an udder cell from an adult sheep, Indian Express reported.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)