Pet-cloning company makes a landmark sale
Woman pays $50,000 to firm
for genetic twin of beloved cat;
Little Nicky considered the first
cloned-to-order pet sold in U.S.
Nine-week-old "Little Nicky" peers out from her carrying
SAN FRANCISCO - The first cloned-to-order pet sold in the United States is named Little Nicky, a 9-week-old kitten delivered to a Texas woman saddened by the loss of a cat she had owned for 17 years.
The kitten cost its owner $50,000 and was cloned from a beloved cat, named Nicky, that died last year. Nicky’s owner banked the cat’s DNA, which was used to create the clone.
“He is identical. His personality is the same,” the woman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she said she fears being targeted by groups opposed to cloning.
Yet while Little Nicky, who was delivered two weeks ago, frolics in his new home, the kitten’s creation and sale has reignited fierce ethical and scientific debate over cloning technology, which is rapidly advancing.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6747736/
