Cloned pets - Shorts

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  Oct, 2002  by Jule Klotter

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Pet cloning is the newest multi-million-dollar genetic engineering business. Buoyed by surveys that suggest that one out often pet owners would like a cloned replica of a beloved pet, companies such as Lazaron, PerPETuate, and Genetic Savings & Clone, collect and store DNA from pets. As technology improves, the DNA will be used to make cloned replicas. Nell Boyce reports in an US News & World Report article (March 11. 2002) that processing a pet's DNA costs about $1,000 and storage costs $100/year. Although cloned cows cost about $20,000, the first cats that Genetic Savings & Clone will begin cloning this year are expected to cost considerably more ("perhaps six figures").

Although scientists have cloned cows, pigs, mice, sheep, and goats since 1996, a cat was only recently cloned by Mark Westhusin and colleagues at Texas A&M University. To make "Cc" the researchers fused cells from another cat named Rainbow with unfertilized cat eggs, emptied of genetic material. The embryos were then implanted into surrogate mothers. It took several tries before a viable cloned kitty entered the world. Interestingly, Cc does not look exactly like Rainbow even though genetically they are identical. The researchers attribute the difference in markings to random factors such as womb environment.

The technology for cloning is still unpredictable, but scientists are confident that it will improve. Right now, cloned animals tend to have more health problems than their prototypes: Dolly the sheep developed arthritis at an early age, and cloned mice tend to develop obesity and have a shorter lifespan. Nevertheless, bioengineers have big plans. A company called Transgenic Pets is trying to clone cats that are free of the protein that can cause allergic reactions in people. Flea-repellent pets, dogs genetically-engineered for police work or to help the disabled, and attack dogs with superaggressive genes (some dog breeders have already managed to do that - without biotechnology) are among the other designer companion animals that researchers have in mind. Others see cloning as the answer to preserving species that will soon be extinct.

Nell Boyce points out some of the ethical questions that arise from cloning pets. For example, what happens to the animals that donate eggs and act as surrogate mothers? Genetic Savings & Clone reportedly finds homes for these animals. But what do other companies do? Ethicist Lori Gruen from Wesleyan University sees "exploitation of grief as a serious problem." She says that these companies "are taking advantage of people who intellectually may know they're not getting their animal back but emotionally they think they're getting their animal back." She says: "One of the dangers of cloning a pet for a child is simply to say, "Here, let's replace this," as if you don't grieve for the loss. How does that translate when Dad dies?"

Boyce, Nell. Pets of the Future. US News & World Report 2002 March 11; pp. 46-53

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