$50,000 to clone a pet??!!

[sophia8]

This woman paid $50,000 for five cloned copies of her beloved pet pit bull. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7542338.stm)
She said she was considering training some of the puppies to help the handicapped or elderly after they are delivered to her in the US in September.
Right - pit bull dogs make wonderful disability-assistance dogs; disability organisations recommend them all the time. </sarcasm>
There are pit-bull rescue charities who would have given her as many puppies as she wanted, in exchange for that kind of money.

ETA: I hope she insisted on an independent DNA check of the puppies; it would be such a shame if the cloning company had passed off some ordinary non-cloned pups on her... :D

[mrbaracuda]

Love knows no bounds..

[Puppycow]

Didn't Leona Helmsley recently leave millions to her dogs? Symptom of having too much money. Of course the money is simply changing hands, not disappearing into the ether. It's all taxable and all good for the economy (sort of) in the end. We all probably have some things that we value which others would find ridiculous.

[Rolfe]

I'm a bit concerned about the animal welfare aspects of the cloning process. How well the surrogate mother(s) are treated and so on. Another worry is, considering you have to make multiple tries, what happens if you get more than one healthy success? However, it does seem as if that latter point isn't a concern here, as it sounds as if she took delivery of all the successful attempts.

More money than sense, but you could say that about a penchant for David Hockney artwork or Gucci handbags or just about anything.

Rolfe.

[leon_heller]

Clones can have health problems. Dolly the sheep, which was the first successful mammalian clone, developed severe arthritis.

I would like to have a clone of my first burmese cat, though. My present one has very similar behaviour but can be rather vicious at times.

Leon

[aggle-rithm]

Clones can have health problems. Dolly the sheep, which was the first successful mammalian clone, developed severe arthritis.

I would like to have a clone of my first burmese cat, though. My present one has very similar behaviour but can be rather vicious at times.

Leon

Don't the cloned animals start out at the biological age of the donor? In other words, since the ovum contains DNA of a cell that has already used up much of its allotment of cell divisions, doesn't the guarantee a short lifespan for the clone?

[GreNME]

This woman paid $50,000 for five cloned copies of her beloved pet pit bull. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7542338.stm)

It happens more often than you think. Livestock breeders were among the first to do this once it became a possibility.

Right - pit bull dogs make wonderful disability-assistance dogs; disability organisations recommend them all the time. </sarcasm>

You shouldn't be sarcastic about it, because pits can make excellent assistance / service dogs. Here (http://www.mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=667) is a story about one of the Michael Vick dogs [more info (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/06/AR2008070602351.html?hpid=artslot)] who has now gone on to be a therapy dog. Pits tend to have better dispositions for therapy or service roles than, say, a cocker spaniel or a dalmation, so your sarcasm is misplaced.

There are pit-bull rescue charities who would have given her as many puppies as she wanted, in exchange for that kind of money.

ETA: I hope she insisted on an independent DNA check of the puppies; it would be such a shame if the cloning company had passed off some ordinary non-cloned pups on her... :D

There isn't any reason for these companies to defraud the people asking for clones. However, the dogs that someone who would do this gets back would not be the dog that they used to know and love. Just like with any other animal (including humans), there are several factors outside of DNA alone that make the animal's disposition in general-- and, in many species, their individual personality-- including the birth environment, early associations growing up, their nutrition, all of which contribute to differences in brain chemistry and behavioral habits.

This happened to a cattle rancher in Texas not too long ago, where his much-loved bull was cloned after it passed, and the clone that he got was not the friendly bull he used to know. He managed to get impaled a few times because of it, but the last I heard he was still determined to keep the bull around because of the memory he had of the clone's predecessor.

[Moochie]

This woman paid $50,000 for five cloned copies of her beloved pet pit bull. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7542338.stm)

Right - pit bull dogs make wonderful disability-assistance dogs; disability organisations recommend them all the time. </sarcasm>
There are pit-bull rescue charities who would have given her as many puppies as she wanted, in exchange for that kind of money.

ETA: I hope she insisted on an independent DNA check of the puppies; it would be such a shame if the cloning company had passed off some ordinary non-cloned pups on her... :D


It's only money. I spend it on foolish things all the time. The only difference here is the magnitude.


M.

[leon_heller]

Don't the cloned animals start out at the biological age of the donor? In other words, since the ovum contains DNA of a cell that has already used up much of its allotment of cell divisions, doesn't the guarantee a short lifespan for the clone?

I don't think that was the case with Dolly. Although she was cloned from a six year old ewe, the Roslin Institute couldn't find any indication that she had aged prematurely. She died of a form of lung cancer common in sheep.

Leon

[Rolfe]

Sitting here about half a mile from the Roslin Institute....

She did have arthritis, but I don't know that they ever demonstrated that this was linked to her being a clone.

She died of ovine pulmonary adenocarcinomatosis (commonly known as Jaagsiekte), which is lung cancer caused by a virus. I've seen nine-month-old lambs die of that. If you ask me (cough, cough....), it was, er, unfortunate, shall I say, that such an important and unique animal was exposed to that particular infectious agent.

Rolfe.

[sophia8]

You shouldn't be sarcastic about it, because pits can make excellent assistance / service dogs. Here (http://www.mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=667) is a story about one of the Michael Vick dogs [more info (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/06/AR2008070602351.html?hpid=artslot)] who has now gone on to be a therapy dog. Pits tend to have better dispositions for therapy or service roles than, say, a cocker spaniel or a dalmation, so your sarcasm is misplaced.
Sorry for that - you're right, I shouldn't have been sarcastic.
Yes, it's her money, so she can spend it on what she likes. However spending the money on, say, a car is very different from spending it on a cloned pup.
For a start, there's the potential harm to other animals in the cloning process. As I understand it, there's still a lot of "wastage" in the form of embryos/pups that are too damaged to survive (though I'll be happy to be corrected on this point). Plus, there's the potential health risks to the bitches involved in in both harvesting the eggs and implanting them - lots of hormonal drugs need to be given.
And then there's the psychological aspect, of trying to recreate a dead pet. However much she loved the dog, it's surely healthier for her to admit that it is gone forever, and move on with her life.

[GreNME]

For a start, there's the potential harm to other animals in the cloning process. As I understand it, there's still a lot of "wastage" in the form of embryos/pups that are too damaged to survive (though I'll be happy to be corrected on this point). Plus, there's the potential health risks to the bitches involved in in both harvesting the eggs and implanting them - lots of hormonal drugs need to be given.
And then there's the psychological aspect, of trying to recreate a dead pet. However much she loved the dog, it's surely healthier for her to admit that it is gone forever, and move on with her life.

I agree. And even further, there is a danger in expectations of the psychological (and physical) state of the cloned dog. A clone is not going to be an exact copy of the original. Sure, they are starting from the same DNA, but the end result isn't going to be exactly the same sequence of A-C-T-G compared to the original.

Maybe one day we'll master the technology of axlotl tanks. :)

[hipparchia]

Maybe one day we'll master the technology of axlotl tanks.

Really looking forward to it:)

I need to save some cell samples and a note saying, "Please clone with added superhero and seduction skills."

Or just transplant my brain into a goldfish.

[Rolfe]

Hmmm. Leaving aside the animal welfare aspects (I'm not really up on every little detail, but from my current position of informed ignorance, as it were, I suspect there may be seriouis concerns surrounding that aspect), I'd rather have liked the opportunity to have Rolfe cloned. (He died in 1992, so a bit too early. And £25,000 is too big a price tag.)

I'd have liked to be able to do it though, because he was such a special cat. Not because I'd be guaranteed to get the equivalent cat back, but for the opportunity to see if I could. To see if his unique character was indeed exhibited by a kitten with his DNA. And even if it wasn't, I'd have loved the little blighter anyway! Let's face it, I even love Caramel the Cannibal (as a bleeding Soapy Sam dubbed him).

Rolfe.

[Sir Robin Goodfellow]

What stage is cloning technology at now? How far is this from being commonplace? Is there any talk of doing this with endangered animals? Can I make another me that can go to work in my place?

[Jon_Stripe]

This woman paid $50,000 for five cloned copies of her beloved pet pit bull. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7542338.stm)

Right - pit bull dogs make wonderful disability-assistance dogs; disability organisations recommend them all the time. </sarcasm>

ETA: I hope she insisted on an independent DNA check of the puppies; it would be such a shame if the cloning company had passed off some ordinary non-cloned pups on her... :D


HAHAHAHA!

Reminds me of the deleted 'Pet Pound' scene from Borat.

VERY NICE!

[firestorm]

Guess it's official. We now own animal's bodies AND souls. Rest in peace...NOT! Yea for hijacking evolution!

[sophia8]

When I first read the article, that woman's name sounded familiar. Now I know why. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/08/usa) :)
A Mormon missionary from Utah called Kirk Anderson, who was going door-to-door in Ewell, Surrey, was kidnapped at gunpoint by McKinney, a former cheerleader and beauty queen from North Carolina. With the help of a friend, Keith May, McKinney drugged Anderson with chloroform and drove him to a rented 17th century cottage near Okehampton, Devon. There the unfortunate young man was chained, spreadeagled, to a bed, with several pairs of mink-lined handcuffs, and over the next few days he was repeatedly required to have sex with McKinney, who later explained that she had been keen to bear his child.