China Pushes Boundaries With Animal Testing to Win Global Biotech Race (bloomberg.com)
(Wednesday October 29, 2025 @06:00AM (BeauHD)
from the heartbreaking-and-thrilling dept.)
- Reference: 0179902028
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/10/29/0256250/china-pushes-boundaries-with-animal-testing-to-win-global-biotech-race
- Source link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-10-28/china-biotech-scientists-push-boundaries-in-animal-testing
China is accelerating its biotech ambitions by [1]pushing the limits of animal testing and gene editing (source paywalled; [2]alternative source ) while Western countries tighten ethical restrictions. "Editing the genes of large animals such as [3]pigs , [4]monkeys and [5]dogs faces scant regulation in China," reports Bloomberg. "Meanwhile, regulators in the US and Europe demand layers of ethical reviews, rendering similar research involving large animals almost impossible." From the report:
> Backing the work of China's scientists is not only permissiveness but state money. In 2023 alone, the Chinese government funneled an estimated $3 billion into biotech. Its sales of cell and gene therapies are projected to reach $2 billion by 2033 from $300 million last year. On the Chinese researchers' side are government-supported breeding and research centers for gene-edited animals and a public largely in approval of pushing the boundaries of animal testing.
>
> The country should become "a global scientific and technology power," Xi said, declaring biotechnology and gene editing a strategic priority. For decades, the country's pharmaceutical companies specialized in generics, reproducing drugs already pioneered elsewhere. Delving head first into gene editing research may be key to China's plan to develop innovative drugs as well as reduce its dependence on foreign pharmaceutical companies.
>
> The result is a country that now dominates headlines with stories of large, genetically modified animals being produced for science -- and the catalog is startling. Its scientists have created monkeys with schizophrenia, autism and sleep disorders. They were the first to clone primates. They've engineered dogs with metabolic and neurological diseases, and even cloned a gene-edited beagle with a blood-clotting disorder.
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-10-28/china-biotech-scientists-push-boundaries-in-animal-testing
[2] https://archive.ph/20251029010353/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-10-28/china-biotech-scientists-push-boundaries-in-animal-testing#selection-1539.0-1550.0
[3] https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/08/26/2257216/pig-lung-transplanted-into-a-human-in-major-scientific-first
[4] https://science.slashdot.org/story/19/08/01/1832249/scientists-are-making-human-monkey-hybrids-in-china
[5] https://science.slashdot.org/story/19/03/25/1435223/china-says-it-cloned-a-police-dog-to-speed-up-training
> Backing the work of China's scientists is not only permissiveness but state money. In 2023 alone, the Chinese government funneled an estimated $3 billion into biotech. Its sales of cell and gene therapies are projected to reach $2 billion by 2033 from $300 million last year. On the Chinese researchers' side are government-supported breeding and research centers for gene-edited animals and a public largely in approval of pushing the boundaries of animal testing.
>
> The country should become "a global scientific and technology power," Xi said, declaring biotechnology and gene editing a strategic priority. For decades, the country's pharmaceutical companies specialized in generics, reproducing drugs already pioneered elsewhere. Delving head first into gene editing research may be key to China's plan to develop innovative drugs as well as reduce its dependence on foreign pharmaceutical companies.
>
> The result is a country that now dominates headlines with stories of large, genetically modified animals being produced for science -- and the catalog is startling. Its scientists have created monkeys with schizophrenia, autism and sleep disorders. They were the first to clone primates. They've engineered dogs with metabolic and neurological diseases, and even cloned a gene-edited beagle with a blood-clotting disorder.
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-10-28/china-biotech-scientists-push-boundaries-in-animal-testing
[2] https://archive.ph/20251029010353/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-10-28/china-biotech-scientists-push-boundaries-in-animal-testing#selection-1539.0-1550.0
[3] https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/08/26/2257216/pig-lung-transplanted-into-a-human-in-major-scientific-first
[4] https://science.slashdot.org/story/19/08/01/1832249/scientists-are-making-human-monkey-hybrids-in-china
[5] https://science.slashdot.org/story/19/03/25/1435223/china-says-it-cloned-a-police-dog-to-speed-up-training
Maybe when the next plague comes out (Score:4, Interesting)
by jvkjvk ( 102057 )
It will be a manufactured one, by AI, in one of the small unregulated labs in China.
Why are they cloning Elon Musk? (Score:2)
by Tablizer ( 95088 )
> scientists have created monkeys with schizophrenia, autism and sleep disorders.
Animals with diseases? That's disturbing. (Score:2)
by Powercntrl ( 458442 )
All they're missing are animals with extra asses and then I could've said "South Park did it first!"
\o/ (Score:1, Insightful)
by easyTree ( 1042254 )
> while Western countries tighten ethical restrictions, unless asked to give financial, moral, military and strategic support to genocidal allies.
Re:Right. (Score:1)
by Anonymous Coward
This simply more the West is super good, the Chinese are evil type of rhetoric. I guess you have to try dehumanizing people if you want people to see them as the enemy.
Live baby chicks in industrial meat grinders (Score:3)
by poity ( 465672 )
just for being male and not economical. Billions each year ground up while alive. Ethics?
Rules. (Score:2, Insightful)
Unfortunately it's difficult to compete with a country like China that can brush aside regulations and ethical concerns in the name of "progress". Don't forget, this is where Covid came from.
Xizilla (Score:3)
The Mutant Wet Market will produce something 100x scarier than Covid.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, and unfortunately it gives the U.S. Junta ideas on how they can get rid of regulations governing ethics on animal testing in the U.S.
Re: Rules. (Score:2)
Nice try but no. Ironically it's the lefty nut jobs who call themselves "progressives" who are holding back progress in this instance. Most Christian conservatives in the US agree with animal testing.