Sinogene

About Sinogene

Sinogene Biotechnology, established in 2012 in Beijing, China, operates in the commercial animal cloning and gene-editing sector. The company is led by Chairman and General manager Mi Jidong. Sinogene has garnered attention for its specialized services, which primarily cater to pet owners seeking to clone their companion animals.

The company's business model revolves around a fee-for-service structure, offering pet cloning and cell preservation. Clients can have somatic cells from their pets collected and cryopreserved for future use. The cloning process utilizes somatic cell nuclear transfer, where the nucleus from a donor's somatic cell is transferred into an enucleated oocyte to create a cloned embryo, which is then implanted into a surrogate mother. As of mid-2020, the cost to clone a cat was reported to be around $35,400, and a dog for approximately $53,550. Sinogene also provides gene-editing services to correct genetic diseases in the cloning process.

Sinogene began its commercial cloning services in 2017, marked by the successful cloning of its first dog, Longlong. This was followed by the cloning of the first cat, Garlic, in 2019. The company has achieved several notable milestones, including creating the world's first gene-edited cloned dog in 2017 and the first cloned police dog in China in 2018. In a significant advancement for wildlife conservation, Sinogene successfully cloned the world's first Arctic wolf in 2022, in partnership with Harbin Polar Park. The company also expanded its services to include horse cloning in 2023.

Beyond the consumer pet market, Sinogene is expanding into preclinical Contract Research Organization (CRO) services. This division leverages its gene-editing technology to create animal models for research and development, particularly for innovative drug development in gene and cell therapy. The company opened a subsidiary in Shanghai to further these efforts.