Dog cloning is coming to Britain
A dog owner in Britain is being offered a genetic replica of
their dog for a fee as part of a launch of the service which will usually cost
63,000 euros. Scientists do warn owners saying it will not be a carbon copy of
their animal, but act more as an identical twin. The clone will have the same
genetic code but due to differing conditions in the womb and environment will
significantly change some characteristics of the dog, affecting things like
behavior and appearance. Scientists also warn that the successful cloning
events resulting in a healthy specimen is 1 or 2 out of 100 making the process
extremely unreliable. This is argued a firm in South Korea called Sooam Biotech
saying that it has never failed to produce a clone and guarantee the work. The
technique involves taking a single skin cell from the original dog and
replicating its DNA to create a manmade embryo, which is then born after 2
months gestation. If you don’t want to clone immediately there is the option of
banking the dog’s cells to be saved for later. Biotech claims to have cloned
over 400 dogs for the South Korean government and dozens for wealthy dog owners
in Americans. Applications close on November 25, so if you have a lot of money
and can’t get over your dog’s death sign up before it’s too late.
There have been remarkable advances in the technology since Dolly, the sheep, was the first successfully cloned mammal in 1997. The improvements in cloning to genetically replicate your beloved dog by a South Korean firm appear to have fueled the ongoing social, moral and ethical arguments regarding this service now being provided.
ReplyDeleteScientists are already using embryonic stem cells to reprogram certain cells to turn into specific tissues types, which could regenerate nerve, muscle, and other cell types, alleviating chronic illnesses. The next logical advancement will be human cloning. One wonders what the possible consequences would be and who would determine who the “privileged” few would be offered to replicate their departed family members.