Saturday, May 28, 2005
Hello Kitty, Hello Clone - New York Times
Hello Kitty, Hello Clone - New York Times: "Ordinarily it is hard to predict how a kitten will look when it is grown. But not for David Cheng, who plans to buy a clone of his much-loved short-haired black-and-white cat Shadow. After all, the cloning company guarantees that Shadow's successor will bear a close resemblance.
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Andy Manis for The New York Times
Peaches, right, 9 months old, is a clone of Mango, 2 years old.
When Nine Lives Just Aren't Enough
Andy Manis for The New York Times
Peaches and Mango's owners are Leslie Ungerer, left, feline surrogate manager for Genetic Savings and Clone, and Philip Damiani, the chief scientist.
When Mr. Cheng, who works as a technology auditor for a Wall Street investment bank, discovered that Shadow had a tumor that would soon prove fatal, he had the cat's cells saved, cultured and frozen. Now, he is preparing for the next step: paying for Shadow's cloned replacement. 'I'm saving up some money,' he said. 'It's a lot like buying a car.'The financing for Shadow's successor won't be trivial. Preserving the cells, a necessary beginning for anyone interested in creating a clone, can run $300 to $1,400, not including veterinarian costs and yearly storage fees. But these expenses pale in comparison with the cost of the clone itself: at Genetic Savings and Clone, the company that stored Shadow's DNA, the price is $32,000 - reduced from the original $50,000, but still an impressive sum."
Skip to next paragraph
Andy Manis for The New York Times
Peaches, right, 9 months old, is a clone of Mango, 2 years old.
When Nine Lives Just Aren't Enough
Andy Manis for The New York Times
Peaches and Mango's owners are Leslie Ungerer, left, feline surrogate manager for Genetic Savings and Clone, and Philip Damiani, the chief scientist.
When Mr. Cheng, who works as a technology auditor for a Wall Street investment bank, discovered that Shadow had a tumor that would soon prove fatal, he had the cat's cells saved, cultured and frozen. Now, he is preparing for the next step: paying for Shadow's cloned replacement. 'I'm saving up some money,' he said. 'It's a lot like buying a car.'The financing for Shadow's successor won't be trivial. Preserving the cells, a necessary beginning for anyone interested in creating a clone, can run $300 to $1,400, not including veterinarian costs and yearly storage fees. But these expenses pale in comparison with the cost of the clone itself: at Genetic Savings and Clone, the company that stored Shadow's DNA, the price is $32,000 - reduced from the original $50,000, but still an impressive sum."
# posted by Jay Brewer @ 9:13 AM 
