Inner Mongolia University organized celebrations to mark the 30th anniversary of the birth of China’s first test-cube sheep and cattle at its southern campus in Hohhot, in Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on Aug 10.

Renowned experts including Liu Xu, former academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and representatives from scientific institutions and colleges across the world, as well as the faculty members from IMU, participated in the celebrations.

During the opening ceremony IMU President Chen Guoqing recounted how China’s first batch of sheep and cattle born via in vitro fertilization, or IVF, made their debut at the university’s research center for laboratory animal science of IMU 30 years ago.

Chen said the event highlighted the great contributions the center had made in the innovation of scientific research.

IVF is a process of fertilization where an egg is combined with sperm outside the body, with the technical term in vitro meaning in glass.

Experts say the technology behind IMU’s test-tube sheep and cattle led China’s animal husbandry on the path to high-quality development.

Xu Rigan, the founder of the technology passed away in 2015. Xu continued to apply the technology of IVF sheep and cattle into applications in animal husbandry during his lifetime, helping promote the largescale farming of livestock .

During the celebrations, Liu Xu spoke highly of Xu Rigan and his team for their pioneering efforts in promoting IVF technology in applications and encouraged more young scientists to follow in their steps.