Cats can now have more than nine lives thanks to a Californian company that is the first US firm to go commercial and offer the public a pet cloning service.
Five customers have already parted with $50,000 each for a copy of their cats.
Genetic Savings & Clone says work will start in May to clone the animals, with the first kittens arriving by November if the procedures prove successful.
CEO Lou Hawthorne told BBC News Online the company had already begun to clone three other cats for staff members.
The "show animals" would be presented to the American Veterinary Medical Association conference next year. Mr Hawthorne expects one to be a copy of his six-month-old Bengal cat, called Tahini.
No, No, NO!!! I understand cloning for research, but it should not be commerical. I lost a wonderful dog last year and would love to have him back, but a clone is no guarantee that just because I had a dog that looked like Jake that it would be Jake.
People paying $50,000 for this are deluding themselves with unrealistic expectations.
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Cheers! Todd
Normal is a relative term. For some reason it is not a term my relatives use to describe me.
Realm: The rolling green hills of North Carolina's Piedmont region.
I'm just laughing at the name of the firm... Genetic savings and clone! Hahaha!
Yes, I agree that people who are having this done are deluding themselves. The new pet is simply a geneticly identical twin of the first one, not a re-incarnation. Also, cloned animals have the potential for many health problems later in life.
You know, even Sci-Fi writers of the 40's and 50's know cloneing was a bad idea.
Although, I must admit that I think it would be a good idea if we could/would grow spare body parts. If you have a heart attack, grow a new heart and replace it. Have an accident and loose an arm? Couple months later, your good as new.
You know, even Sci-Fi writers of the 40's and 50's know cloneing was a bad idea.
Although, I must admit that I think it would be a good idea if we could/would grow spare body parts. If you have a heart attack, grow a new heart and replace it. Have an accident and loose an arm? Couple months later, your good as new.
That's what all that stem cell research is about. Unfortunately, at the moment the only way we can get them is from human embryos. Kind of an ethical conundrum.
I think mayby Ray Bradbury, but im really not sure did a story where you could have a body replacement every time you die, also because he recognised that a clone is not you, he put a download program in so if your walking about and get hit by a bus and killed they defrost a new you and put in your old memory however your memory only from the last time you downloaded your mind, say 5 yrs you loose the last 5 years of your life but you can live forever or as long as you can afford to.
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you've got to wonder how on earth this is a priority for scientists, when diseases such as AIDS are running rampant throughout the world. Plus, cloning is by no means perfected. Sure having old yeller back may be nice, but I don't think that you'll be enjoying it as he dies at an early age from genetic failure. On the other hand, I'm sure the raelians are enjoying this!
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Bitheadh e mar sin
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