Should people clone their pets? (Debate).It sounded like a good idea to dog-owner John Sperling John Sperling (born 1921) is a US billionaire who is credited with leading the contemporary for-profit education movement in the United States. His fortune is based on his founding of the for-profit University of Phoenix for working adults in 1976, which is now part of the publicly . In 1998, Sperling gave $3.7 million to Texas A&M University. He hoped that researchers there could clone his beloved border collie border collie, breed of medium-sized, sheepherding dog developed in the British Isles. It stands about 18 in. (45.7 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 30 to 45 lb (13.6–20.4 kg). , Missy. When the process of cloning dogs proved too complex, the researchers switched to cats. On February 14, they announced the arrival of "cc," short for carbon copy. An adorable calico calico, plain weave cotton fabric in one or more colors. Calico, named for Calicut, India, where the fabric originated, was mentioned by historians before the Christian era and praised by early travelers for its fine texture and beautiful colors. , cc is the genetic duplicate of her mother, Rainbow. However, cc's coat is a different color. In addition to genetics, chance plays a role in the color of a calico's fur. Researchers still haven't cloned Missy. But someday they might succeed. Is cloning pets a good idea? Yes A Good Idea The loss of a pet can be devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. . "It's like losing a child," says Robyn Powell, whose cat died of cancer in 2000. "That cat was special." The demand for pet cloning Pet cloning is the commercial cloning of a pet animal. 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. is evident. More than 500 Americans, including Powell, have already stored their pet's DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. for future cloning. The idea of recreating her cat, says Powell, is "my great hope of seeing that beautiful face again." Cloning animals helps society in other ways. Researchers learn about reproduction systems and can use cloned cells in their study of diseases. Who knows, scientists may soon be able to clone endangered species endangered species, any plant or animal species whose ability to survive and reproduce has been jeopardized by human activities. In 1999 the U.S. government, in accordance with the U.S. . No Not a Solution Pet cloning is expensive and wasteful; cc was the only one of 87 embryos to survive. The cost to future pet owners could be as high as $200,000, and cloned animals tend to have serious health problems. Dolly, the sheep cloned in 1997, already has arthritis. Richard Friedman once thought about cloning his dog, Homer. But he realized that "cloning could not recreate the most precious thing about him--our bond." Friedman and Homer shared experiences that were "unrepeatable." And what of the nine million animals killed each year in shelters? People wanting to clone pets "could do much more good" by adopting an abandoned animal, says one activist. |
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