Twenty-six years ago today, on June 10, 1999 (April 27, 1999), Yang Xiangzhong, a Chinese-American, succeeded in cloning cattle without germ cells. On June 10, 1999, Yang Xiangzhong, a Chinese consultant and director of the Animal Technology Department of the Biotechnology Research Center of the University of Connecticut, led the research of the non-germ cell cloning cattle project, and was the first in the world to achieve the success of non-germ cell cloning cattle. On June 24, Qiu Shengyun, the Chinese Consul General in New York, cordially met and dined Yang Xiangzhong at the Consulate General, and handed him a congratulatory message from the International Department of the Chinese Ministry of Education. He wished Yang Xiangzhong greater achievements. Yang Xiangzhong thanked Consul General Qiu Shengyun for his congratulations. He said that the project was the result of the hard work of 15 experts in his laboratory, and also benefited from the active support of the leadership of his University of Connecticut. He expressed his intention to promote academic exchanges between the University of Connecticut and other universities and academic institutions in the United States and China. Yang Xiangzhong is the founder and first president of the Chinese Agricultural Association in the United States, and is currently the chairperson of the Chinese Association of Experts and Professors in the United States. On January 3, 2000, Yang Xiangzhong and others announced to the press that they had successfully cloned six calves using long-term cultured bull ear skin cells in vitro. This important achievement broke the traditional concept of the scientific community that cloning can only be done with fresh or temporarily cultured cells. It made it possible to clone cattle in large quantities, and opened up new avenues in the use of cloning technology for gene function mapping, genetic disease diagnosis and prevention, tissue and organ repair, and aging and longevity research. Tom Wagner, founder of animal transgenic research and director of the Cancer Research Center of South Carolina in the United States, said that this achievement is much more important than Londoli sheep from a scientific and commercial perspective. In early January, the annual meeting of the International Society of Embryology was held in the Netherlands. More than 1,000 scholars from 42 countries agreed that this was one of the most important scientific and technological achievements of this century. Yang Xiangzhong worked with a Japanese scientist who used to work in his laboratory, Ri Kuada, and took cells from the ears of a 17-year-old Japanese bull. After growing them in vitro for two months, he cloned four young bulls in December 1998, two of which were over the age of one. In early February 1999, they cloned two more young bulls from the bull cells that had been cultured for three months and divided for 30 generations. Now the two healthy young bulls have reached the age of 10 months. Professor Yang Xiangzhong is in his 40s and was born in rural Handan, Hebei Province. He liked animals since childhood. When he graduated from high school and returned to his hometown to farm, he volunteered to raise pigs for the production team, which is the beginning of his dealings with animals. After the college entrance examination was resumed, he was admitted to the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of Beijing Agricultural University in 1977. In 1983, he was admitted to the Ministry of Education to train international students to study at Cornell University in the United States. After obtaining a doctorate, he stayed on to teach at the school. In 1996, he went to the University of Connecticut to lead the biotechnology center. The reporter asked him to talk about the reasons for his success. He made it very clear that science and technology focus on innovation, and our success lies in the innovation of ideas. Cloning technology, people originally believed that stem cells must be used, and it was innovation to develop to somatic cells; it was originally thought that cells from reproductive organs must be used, and we switched to cells from other parts. It was originally thought that the fresher the cells used for cloning, the better, but the freshness of cells is not conducive to practical application. Instead, we cloned cells after long-term culture, which is another innovation that promotes technological development. Innovation does not come out of thin air, it requires the accumulation of knowledge. I myself have been engaged in animal cloning research since 1983, and the accumulation of knowledge in cloning technology in hundreds of laboratories around the world over the past few decades is also very important. Only by understanding the achievements of predecessors, the current situation, and the existing problems can we develop new ideas and challenge traditional concepts. First, determine the direction, and then work hard and persevere. Innovation is endless, and our breakthroughs this time also raise more new questions, such as why somatic cells are more efficient than stem cells, why cloning cells is better after long-term culture, and the issue of opening up cellular genes in the cloning process, etc. They require scientists to work hard to explore and seek new breakthroughs. Science and technology are constantly developing through innovation. Yang has been to the United States for many years and has made great achievements overseas, but his heart has always been towards China, thinking of the farmers in his hometown. Now he returns to China several times a year to make suggestions for the country's scientific and technological and agricultural development and do his best. As early as his studies at Cornell University, he initiated the establishment of the "Chinese Agricultural Society in the United States" to promote Sino-US agricultural science and technology exchanges. He also initiated the establishment of the "China Bridge" Foundation, with local proceeds raised to help Chinese scholars in the United States return to China for academic exchanges. Over the past few years, more than 200 Chinese scholars have served in China under the funding of "China Bridge". He said that Chinese people are smart, capable, and able to endure hardships, and can make greater contributions in the field of science and technology. As far as animal technology is concerned, there are many talents at home and the level is very high. It should be noted that foreign countries should strengthen international exchanges, integrate domestic research projects into the international community, and absorb the latest international technology and information. Domestic cooperation should be strengthened. There is both competition and cooperation in scientific research. Only cooperation can give full play to the advantages of all parties and achieve better results.