Hero Dog Wins Cloning Contest

Doggie behavior, physical traits can differ

(NEWSER) - Lou Hawthorne's canine cloning business is well on its way—with clients paying upwards of $130,000 to duplicate their pets—but the copies of his own beloved family dog have hardly replaced her. Clones Mira and MissyToo vary in size and color, and Hawthorne's mother—keeper of the original Missy, now deceased—refuses to keep the genetic offspring, saying they lack the donor's robust calm. More»

Critics say there may be many failures for every high-profile success

(NEWSER) - Canine cloning looks set to become big business but critics warn that deformed and diseased failures could outnumber the tail-wagging successes, Wired reports. Cloning fails far more often than it succeeds, and dogs are notoriously hard to clone. A Humane Society report earlier this year charged that "serious animal suffering and disreputable activities" lurk behind pet cloning. More»

(NEWSER) - The owner of hero 9/11 sniffer dog Trakr has been presented with four new bouncing baby ... Trakrs, reports TMZ. The four black puppies with piercing blue eyes are all clones of their hero pop. Just in time, too—the original Trakr died in April at the age of 15. He was picked as "super clone worthy" by the California company BioArts International as part of its "Golden Clone Giveaway." More»

World's first commercial clones

(NEWSER) - South Korean scientists have made the world’s first commercial clones, creating five copies of a heroic pit bull named Booger, the Times of London reports. The little Boogers were ordered and paid for—at an introductory rate of $50,000—by Hollywood screenwriter Bernann McKinney, owner of the now-departed original. McKinney says the first Booger saved her life after she was horribly mauled by her pet mastiff. More»

Korean company says it's the first commercial order for a cloned canine

(NEWSER) - A California woman has placed the first order for a cloned dog with South Korean biotech firm RNL Bio, pledging $150,000 for a genetic duplicate of her dead pitbull, Booger, who once saved her from a dog attack, reports the BBC. Seoul National University scientists, who produced the first cloned canine in 2005, will use tissue from Booger’s ear. More»