How Much Is That Doggy in the Window?
BioArts International partnered with Sooam Biotech Research Foundation of South Korea to successfully clone Missy, BioArts CEO Lou Hawthorne’s family dog,(top photo). It took 10 years of research and work. There are now three identical clones of Missy (2nd photo) back with the original family. The clones are named Mira (after a Korean myth of an all-powerful benevolent dragon), Chingu (which means "friend" in Korean) and Sarang ("love").
Since Dolly was cloned in 1996, scientists have successfully cloned other mammals including cattle, goats, mice, pigs, rabbits, cats, mules and horses. For many years, however, dog cloning stumped numerous scientists.
Cloning dogs is so much more difficult than cloning other species due to poorly understood physiology and a fundamental knowledge gap. Dogs are unusual in that they only go into estrus (periods of fertility) once or twice a year at virtually random intervals. Only dogs in estrus can donate eggs for cloned embryo production or serve as embryo recipients. It is also extremely challenging to obtain these eggs at the precise time they are fully mature – a window of just a couple hours within a 6-12 month reproductive cycle and whereas most mammalian ova are translucent so the inside of the ova can be seen and manipulated, canine ova are opaque with dark lipids that are an energy source for the egg, but unfortunately it makes the eggs difficult to work with.
One myth that has been proven false is the theory that clones are born "old" or age rapidly. This myth was reinforced by speculation that the early death of Dolly the cloned sheep was due to premature aging. But Dolly developed a common respiratory infection, and there's no evidence that being a clone had anything to do with it. The age of the genetic donor (the animal whose DNA is used to produce a clone) does not affect the age or aging process of the clone.
BioArts has received many requests for their pet cloning services but they recently announced plans to sell only 5 dog cloning slots in an auction to be held July 5-9th with the bidding starting at $100,000! One spot will be given away to a deserving applicant.
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Reader Comments (2)
Wow. What a responsible way to spend $100,000...
Ok what about people who spend $200,000 on a parking spot? We live in a country where people can choose to spend their money as they see fit. Personally I'd rather have an identical twin of my Sunny than a couple awesome parking spots.