Chinese Miracle Pig Cloned

Scientists have cloned a castrated male hog that survived for more than a month buried in the rubble after a massive 2008 earthquake in China.

Written byBob Grant

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WIKIMEDIA, TITANIUM22

Chinese researchers have cloned a pig that survived for weeks drinking rainwater and eating charcoal underneath the rubble of an 8.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Sichuan Province in 2008. Zhu Jiangqiang, or "Strong-Willed Pig," is now the proud father of six identical piglets created using DNA from the castrated swine. "The wonderful pig surprised us again," project leader Du Yutao, told Hong Kong newspaper the Sunday Morning Post earlier this month. The reason for cloning Zhu Jiangqiang is unclear, but the paper reports that the piglets will likely be sent to a museum and genetic institute, presumably for further study into the tenacious pig's staying power.

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Meet the Author

Bob Grant
From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
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