China's first twin calves cloned from a skin cell have been doing well since their birth at a research center in Caoxian County, east China's Shandong Province. The calves were born on Monday evening. Both were female with one weighing 45.5 kilograms and the other 37.5 kilograms.

Research staff say the heart rate, breathing and body temperature of both calves are normal.

The calves were able to stand up unsteadily shortly after their birth, sources say.

Chen Dayuan, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Xinhua that the cloned twin calves are not only the first of their kind in China but also in the world.

Cows usually give birth to only one calf at a time. The two calves were bred from two embryos implanted into their surrogate mother cow, a black and white cow labeled as No. 99025 in the research center.

Duoduo and Fufu, named after "Duofu" (much happiness in Chinese) were cloned from a single epidermal cell taken in Beijing from a cow with high milk production.

So far, seven calves have been cloned in China with the country 's own technology. The first cloned calf was born in mid October in Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province, but died 80 minutes after birth.

(Xinhua News Agency February 7, 2002)