Cloned Puppies: Sure, They’re Cute, But at What Cost?

When skin cells from a dead pit bull named Booger gave rise to five healthy-looking puppies with a $50,000 price tag, it marked the formal beginning of a commercial dog-cloning industry.

But for all the attention given to these and other clones, little was paid to the behind-the-scenes science. For every successfully cloned animal thrust into the spotlight, how many failures were quietly ushered out of sight?

“What we’re seeing with the clones they present are the ones that look good,” said Jaydee Hanson, an animal-cloning analyst at the Center for Food Safety, a Washington, D.C.-based liberal nonprofit.

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Tagged as: Animals, Center for Food Safety, Cloning, Dogs, Jaydee Hanson, Pets, Pit Bulls, Puppies, Science & Technology, Skin Cells