Pet cloning

Pet cloning is the cloning of a pet animal. One common way in which an animal is cloned is by somatic cell nuclear transfer. In this process an oocyte is taken from a surrogate mother and put through a process called enucleation, which removes the nucleus from inside oocyte. Somatic cells are then taken from the animal that is being cloned, transferred into the blank oocyte and fused using an electrical current. The oocyte is then re-inserted into the surrogate mother. The end result is the formation of an animal that is genetically identical to the animal the somatic cells were taken from.[1][2]

History

The first commercially cloned pet was a cat named Little Nicky, produced in 2004 by Genetic Savings & Clone for a north Texas woman for the fee of US$50,000.[3] On May 21, 2008 BioArts International[4] announced a limited commercial dog cloning service through a program it called Best Friends Again in partnership with a Korean company named Sooam Biotech. This program came on the announcement of the successful cloning of a family dog named Missy, which was widely publicized in the Missyplicity Project. In September 2009 BioArts announced the end of its dog cloning service.[5] In July 2008, the Seoul National University, co-parents of Snuppy, reputedly the world's first cloned dog in 2005, created five clones of a dog named Booger for its Californian owner. The woman paid $50,000 for this service.[6]

Sooam Biotech continued developing proprietary techniques for cloning dogs[7] based on a licence from ViaGen's subsidiary Start Licensing (which owned the original patent for cloning Dolly the sheep[8]). Sooam created cloned puppies for owners whose dogs had died, charging $100,000 a time[9][10] Sooam Biotech was reported to have cloned approximately 700 dogs by 2015[9] and to be producing 500 cloned embryos of various breeds a day in 2016.[11] In 2015, the longest period after which Sooam Biotech could clone a puppy was 12 days from the death of the original pet dog.[12] Sinogene Biotechnology created the first Chinese clone dog in 2017, then commercialized the cloning service, joining in the pet cloning market.[13] In 2019, Sinogene successfully created the first Chinese cloned cat.[14]

Controversies

Some critics accuse pet cloning proponents of encouraging prospective pet cloning clients to falsely expect that their new pets will be indistinguishable from their old pets. Although the animal in question is technically "cloned", there are still phenotypical differences that may affect its appearance or health. This issue was brought up in the cloning of a cat named Rainbow. Rainbow's clone later named CC was genetically identical to Rainbow yet the coloring patterns were not the same. The reason for which were attributed to many different factors in the development of the kitten inside the womb.[15]

Defenders of pet cloning argue that pet cloning does not contribute to pet homelessness, the animals involved are treated humanely, it makes people happy, there is a demand for it, it will contribute to scientific, veterinary, and medical knowledge, and it will help efforts to preserve endangered cousins of the cat and dog.

In 2005, California Assembly Member Lloyd Levine introduced a bill to ban the sale or transfer of pet clones in California.[16] However, it was voted down.[17]

References
  1. Keefer, Carol (July 21, 2015). "Artificial cloning of domestic animals". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 112 (29): 8874–8. Bibcode:2015PNAS..112.8874K. doi:10.1073/pnas.1501718112. PMC 4517265. PMID 26195770.
  2. Kim, Min Jung; Oh, Hyun Ju; Kim, Geon A; Setyawan, Erif Maha Nugraha; Choi, Yoo Bin; Lee, Seok Hee; Petersen-Jones, Simon M.; Ko, CheMyong J.; Lee, Byeong Chun (November 10, 2017). "Birth of clones of the world's first cloned dog". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 15235. Bibcode:2017NatSR...715235K. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-15328-2. PMC 5681657. PMID 29127382.
  3. Roush, Wade (February 17, 2006). "Genetic Savings and Clone: No Pet Project". MIT Technology Review.
  4. BioArts International
  5. Hawthorne, Lou (10 September 2009). "Six Reasons We're No Longer Cloning Dogs". Bioarts. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  6. Arnold, Paul (14 September 2009). "Animal Cloning: Pet Cloning Controversy". Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  7. Agence France-Presse (September 20, 2009). "South Korea scientist wins dog cloning court battle". The China Post.
  8. Dean, Josh (22 October 2014). "For $100,000, You Can Clone Your Dog". Bloomberg business. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  9. Taylor, Diane (24 December 2015). "UK couple have dead dog cloned in South Korea". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  10. Baer, Drake (8 September 2015). "This Korean lab has nearly perfected dog cloning, and that's just the start". Tech Insider, Innovation. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  11. Zastrow, Mark (8 February 2016). "Inside the cloning factory that creates 500 new animals a day". New Scientist. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  12. "British couple celebrate after birth of first cloned puppy of its kind". The Guardian. 26 December 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  13. "Chinese firm clones gene-edited dog in bid to treat cardiovascular disease". CNN. 2017-12-27. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
  14. "His Cat's Death Left Him Heartbroken. So He Cloned It". The New York Times. 2019-09-04. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
  15. Shin, Taeyoung; Kraemer, Duane; Pryor, Jane; Liu, Ling; Rugila, James; Howe, Lisa; Buck, Sandra; Murphy, Keith; Lyons, Leslie; Westhusin, Mark (February 14, 2002). "A cat cloned by nuclear transplantation". Nature. 415 (6874): 859. doi:10.1038/nature723. PMID 11859353.
  16. Mott, Maryann (February 23, 2005). "Pet-Clone Sales Spur Call for Ban". National Geographic News. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  17. "Cloned pets escape retail sales ban in California". dvm360 magazine. dvm360. July 1, 2005. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
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