A Florida couple has just received a genetic copy of their beloved and deceased golden Labrador Sir Lancelot, naming the three-month-old puppy Lancelot Encore. The couple paid $155,000 for one of the first commercially cloned dogs in the world, and say the money was well spent. “He was a wonderful dog,” said Nina Otto, 66. “Money wasn’t an object. We just wanted our wonderful, loving dog back” [ABC News]. The project was masterminded by the California biotech company BioArts.
Lancelot Encore joins a handful of other dogs cloned either commercially or as a proof of concept, and the latest success seems to indicate that researchers have thoroughly overcome the scientific barriers to cloning man’s best friend. Canines are considered one of the more difficult mammals to clone because of their reproductive cycle that includes difficult-to-predict ovulations [Reuters]. Now the fate of the fledging pet cloning industry is largely dependent on whether dog lovers think that clones are worth the high price tag. However, just yesterday another cloning company announced a new technique that could reduce the cost of dog cloning to about $50,000 within three years.
The Korean company RNL Bio announced that their new cloning technique has a much higher success rate than previous cloning methods, which will allow the price to drop. Conventionally, scientists use skin cells taken from the donor to extract the DNA that they fuse with an egg to make a clone…. But last October, RNL Bio said, its scientists extracted fat tissue from the beagle, isolated and expanded the stem cells and developed 84 embryos that were transplanted into five surrogate mother dogs. One of those gave birth to two puppies, Magic and Stem, this week [BBC News].
While RNL Bio is accepting orders for commerically cloned dogs, grieving pet owners aren’t the only people on the list. The company says pet owners should be prepared for long waits because most commercial canine cloning is for working animals including sniffer dogs at airports [Reuters].
Related Content:
80beats: First Commercial Dog Cloning Operation Yields Five Little “Boogers”
80beats: Scientists Clone a Mouse From the Deep Freeze; Woolly Mammoths Could Be Next
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Image: BioArts
January 30th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
I could see it happening easily, and I honestly can’t blame the couple for cloning their dog. If I had a spare $155k and a great dog, I’d happily clone it to get another great dog. I’m just curious as to the long-term outcome for these cloned dogs.
January 30th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Uh, when will people realize that their wonderful, loving dog will _never_ come back? The clone is a different dog, people!
January 30th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
oh my god, the money could go to charity for god’s sake! just adopt a homeless dog instead. Wackos!
January 30th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Free golden labs are wonderful and loving, too.
Since we know that human personality is not 100% nature and 0% nurture, I’d venture that dogs are pretty much the same. There’s no guarantee that this animal will be just like their old dog, or even anything like their old dog (insofar as much as the personalities of individual golden labs vary … which ain’t much, given that we breed them for specific behavioural traits).
January 30th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Can you say “RePet”.
February 2nd, 2009 at 12:50 pm
oh my god, the money could go to charity for god’s sake! just adopt a homeless dog instead. Wackos!
True, but who would pass up bragging rights for having a CLONE for a pet????? =P
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:44 am
I can’t help but wonder how many unsuccesful clones were created in the process, and how long they lived and how they were disposed of.
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:29 am
I believe that we as a humanrace have unlocked the knowledge to to accomplish unthinkable things, personal or medical. I only hope we have the wisdom to govern this new and exciting field of science!
March 1st, 2009 at 6:39 pm
cute puppy…shame he’ll be bloated, mishapen, and dead within three years…
March 20th, 2009 at 10:53 am
that was really mean he is soooo cUTE!
September 7th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
If I had the money, I would clone my dog. I think it would be enormously helpful in coping with loss of a dear pet. Essentially, dogs are family members, except they’re much more pleasant. :-)
September 26th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Having had many dogs, cats, horses and countless other pets, cherished them all to their natural end (sometimes way too early), taken in many strays and rescues and loved them all, there is NEVER any easy way to get over losing a beloved pet. Of my most recent loss, I’m furiously thinking, how can I possibly find the money to do it……. ? But then I’d have to do it every time I lose one and that is entirely out of the question. Maizey – RIP darlin’, your human and animal family misses you so much…