Identical Boogers? Commercial cloning of your dog available now for only $150,000!

What could you buy for $150,000? Half a house? A luxury car? Or you would fork out a fortune just to have your old friend Rusty back in your life? A Californian woman wants the cloning company, RNL Bio to clone her dog for the price of $150,000. The pitbull terrier, Booger will be recreated from frozen tissue extracted from his ear before he died. This is the first time commercial cloning has been available to the general public, although dogs have been cloned for a number of years. RNL Bio was the first company to clone the dog in 2005, using the somatic cells from the ear skin of an Afghan Hound and implanting them into the nucleus of an oocyte in vitro. The result was Snuppy, an identical twin to the donor dog, but years younger. This was a breakthrough in the world of cloning, as the dog is notoriously difficult to clone due to the challenge of maturing oocytes in vitro and the complex reproductive biology of the dog.

Despite many ethical concerns, commercial cloning seems to be welcomed by dog owners. An American biotechnology company is holding an auction in June to clone the five winning bidders dogs, with a starting price of $100,000. However, though the dog may look alike and will be genetically identical to the original pet, it’s personality and behaviour will not be the same due to different environmental influences. Nevertheless, many benefits can be derived from the cloning of dogs, including preservation of endangered breeds, studying the genetics of out-crossed populations, therapeutic cloning, and the recreation of the beloved Booger.

Primary Reference:

Chun Lee, B., Kyu Kim, M., Jang, G., Ju Oh, H., Yuda, F., Jin Kim, H., Shamim, H., Ju Kim, J., Keum Kang, S., Schatten, G. & Suk Hwang, W. 2005, Dogs cloned from adult somatic cells, Nature 436, pp. 641-642

Secondary references:

Jin-seo, C. 2008, Dog cloning becomes business, viewed 16 May 2008, <http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2008/02/133_18963.html>

Kolata, G. 2005, Beating hurdles, scientists clone a dog for a first, viewed 15 May 2008, <http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/04/science/04clone.html>

Written by Alanna Harth
Student number: 41403006