Need a new pet? Clone your old one
SAN FRANCISCO - THE cat's out of the bag. A Texan woman says she
paid US$50,000 (S$82,400) to a northern California biotech company
for an eight-week-old clone of her dead cat, Nicky, the first known
sale of a cloned pet.
BACK FROM THE DEAD: Little Nicky, with owner Julie. -- AP
Genetic Savings & Clone Inc, based in Sausalito, handed over
Little Nicky, a Maine Coon, earlier this month at a company holiday
party in San Francisco.
'He is identical. I have not been able to see one difference,' said
the woman, who asked to be identified only by her first name,
Julie.
Despite its whimsical name, the company has been working for more
than four years on the cat cloning process. The founder of the
company, Arizona billionaire John Sperling, funded the research at
Texas A&M University that led to the first cloned cat - CC, or
Carbon Copy - in 2001.
The company is employing a technology known as chromatin transfer,
which is currently being used for cloning cattle.
Company spokesman Ben Carlson said four other people have cats on
order, at $50,000 each. He said all the clones are expected to be
ready by spring.
But the announcement of Little Nicky sparked criticism from some
animal protection groups, who saw the event as opening the door to
a new realm of problems.
'There are a million cats being killed in shelters every year,'
said Mr Michael Mountain, president of Best Friends Animal Society.
'There is no shortage of cats, so why do they have to do this?' --
LOS ANGELES TIMES
