Scientists have set up a commercial operation to clone pet dogs, at €101,000 a puppy. And a team in South Korea already have their first customer, an American woman who wants a clone of her dead pit bull.
Bernann McKunney of California, said she was especially fond of the animal because it saved her life by fighting off another dog which attacked her and bit off her arm.
She provided Seoul-based RNL Bio with ear tissue from the dead dog, which she had preserved at a US biotech firm before it died 18 months ago, said company spokeswoman Kim Yoon.
The chances of successfully creating a clone are about one in four, Kim said.
Cloning will be done by a team of Seoul National University scientists led by professor Lee Byeong-chun, a key member of disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk's research team, Kim said. The company will handle marketing.
Most of Hwang's purported breakthroughs in cloning human stem cells were found to be fake. But the team was found to have successfully created the world's first dog clone, an Afghan hound named Snuppy.
Lee was the main scientist leading the dog cloning. He later cloned more dogs and succeeded in cloning a wolf.
Company spokeswoman Kim said no other scientists have succeeded in creating cloned dogs, and that her company is offering the world's first commercial service.
RNL Bio plans to eventually focus on cloning not only pets, but also special dogs like those trained to sniff out bombs.
Established in 2000, the company produces animal disinfectants and health supplements, while also conducting stem cell research.
AP