08-06-2004, 07:56 PM
Quote:In a Pacific Heights mansion owned by an eccentric millionaire, two cloned kittens stalked each other and pounced in a tangle of paws and whiskers Thursday.
From their bright blue eyes to their black-ringed tails, Tabouli and Baba Ganoush appear identical, both to each other and to their genetic "donor mom," a year-old Bengal cat named Tahini.
The 8-week-old kittens are the second and third cat clones in the world. They were produced by Genetic Savings and Clone, a Sausalito firm that wants to make a commercial business of pet cloning. Its backer, John Sterling, the octogenarian founder of the University of Phoenix and owner of the Pacific Heights mansion, has poured more than $10 million into the endeavor, which could cost an additional $5 million before it turns a profit.
The company has five customers paying $50,000 each to clone their cats. It is now ready to start filling orders and expects to have cloned cats for its customers weaned by December.
Tabouli and Baba Ganoush prove that "all pieces of the puzzle are now in place on the cat side," said Lou Hawthorne, Genetic Savings CEO.
The kittens were cloned from a cat owned by Hawthorne's 4-year-old son. Hawthorne plans to adopt one himself and give the other one to his sister, but they will also go on tour. The company hopes to show them off at the huge Cat Fanciers Association show at Madison Square Garden in New York in October, and at the American Veterinary Association convention in July, and at smaller venues in between.
According to Genetic Savings, the two clones, born to separate surrogate mothers on June 10 and 12, are healthy and normal with none of the health problems common to some clones, such as organ malformation.
"How can I avoid saying it? They're frisky," said Ben Carlson, vice president of communications.
But critics say even though the kittens may appear normal, they could have hidden defects.
Full, long article here
Would you clone your pet? What do you think of this cloning thing?