Animal Cloning

Let's talk about the cloning of animals. For many of us, the first thing that often comes to mind is the famously cloned sheep named Dolly. Cloned by Scottish scientists in 1996, Dolly was created by a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer which basically means that a cell nucleus from an adult sheep  (which contains the genetic information) was placed inside an unfertilized egg that had previously had its original nucleus removed. The developing blastocyst is then placed in a surrogate mother where the rest of development occurs. Not without a sense of humor, Dolly's creators named her after Dolly Parton (for two large reasons) since she was cloned using a mammary gland cell. One important fact about Dolly is that she was able to successfully reproduce and during her life she gave birth to 6 lambs (image below shows Dolly with her first lamb "Bonnie"). Ultimately, Dolly developed a progressive lung disease and arthritis that led to her being euthanized in 2003.

Because Dolly the cloned sheep was created 20 years ago, it isn't surprising that other animals have been cloned since her time. In fact, many other large mammals have been cloned including pigs, goats, horses, cows and bulls. Companies can even select prize-winning bulls and use them in the cloning process to create many other valuable bulls. Meat products from cloned animals have regularly been sold in the United States since 2008 when the FDA decided that cloned meat from these animals is just as safe for consumption as food from traditionally-bred animals.

On a different note, many of us develop strong bonds with our pets. Well, several hundred cloned pets (mostly dogs and cats) have been created throughout the world. The price tag is high and ranges from about $30,000 to about $160,000 depending on type of animal and which company you choose to go with. Still, if you have the desire and funding, you can re-create your current pet many times over. Below is an image of a couple who paid $155,000 to clone their pet dog. The wife holds a picture of their deceased dog (Sir Lancelot) while the husband cuddles the new puppy fittingly named Lancelot Encore.