I just lost one of my most beloved dogs yesterday. This cloning program does not appeal to me.
My dog was his brain and personality, it wasn’t just his looks. The clone is not your dog come back to life.
This is the first glimpse inside the South Korean lab that is the only place in the world to offer commercial dog cloning.
The Sooam Biotech Research Foundation in Seoul headed by Dr Woo Suk Hwong has so far cloned 700 dogs to date and claim they can replicate any dog regardless of its age, size and breed.
And now the research lab has given unprecedented access to a team from NBC to show exactly how they can clone an owner’s beloved dog after it dies.
Harry Smith travelled to the lab in Seoul, where they charge $100,000 (£69,000) to recreate dogs using their DNA.
While there, he met up with British couple Laura Jacques and Richard Remede from West Yorkshire, who used the DNA from their dead boxer dog Dylan to create two new dogs called Chance and Shadow.
And Mr Smith recalls the moment when he saw Miss Jacques and Mr Remede meet their cloned puppies for the first time.
He told MailOnline: ‘Seeing them with their cloned dogs was something close to bliss.
The process involves obtaining live cells from a living dog or a dog five days after it has died.
Dogs that have similar ovulation time are selected as egg donors and surrogate mothers.
Eggs are collected from the egg donor through a procedure called ‘flushing’ and the nuclei of the eggs, which contain DNA of the egg donor, is removed.
Then donor cell is then injected into the enucleated egg and the two cells are ‘fused’ together.
This fusion procedure produces a cloned embryo that is transferred into a surrogate dog.
Ive seen this movie.
You AINT gonna like the ending.
Fur, I’m so sorry for you. It’s hard losing a beloved pet – we all know.
I can’t think of a more stupid way to deal with the loss than to try to make over another dog into the one you lost. Even if they could clone the personality traits, it’s still not the same. And why would anyone want to go through another loss?
You know the best thing ever for me was your portrait that you did for me of Zoe. You captured her in her eyes and every time I look at it above my computer, it gives me such comfort.
Bless you, Fur.
“…The Sooam Biotech…”
I speed-read that as “the somma bitch”.
He started getting seizures about a month ago.
Liver enzymes through the roof.
He was 16.
Smartest dog I ever knew.
I’d love to see a picture of your buddy….ain’t nothin’ like a dog!…
So sorry for your loss Fur. I had to euthanize my 14 year old litter mates last month. Teddy has had siezures and been incontinent for years. Then he developed congestive heart failure. Emma had the worst luxating patellas the vet had ever seen and just could not walk anymore. She had started to just lay in her basket and pee, because it hurt her so bad to walk and sometimes she just fell to the ground. She also had dental problems and had surgery several years ago. Vet didn’t feel she would make it through another one. As hard as it was, they came into the world together and spent their whole lives together and I felt since they were both suffering in their own ways, that they should go out together. Worst day of my life. Still have Emma’s daughter Squirt, she is almost 12 and has that collapsing trachea thing. Sigh.
I’m so sorry for your loss.
Our first dog since returning to the US passed away last April. She was sweet, worked as a therapy dog for elderly care facilities, playful in her gentle way and always made you feel like you were the most important person on the planet, even if she had just met you. She was there with a sympathetic ear for Mrs. Oaksmiles, when living in this new country and being surrounded 24/7 by English could be overwhelming. She taught her sister how to be a retired racer (they are greyhounds) after we found her sister still racing and adopted her after she came off the track. She was in all things perfect.
We would never consider cloning her, for several reasons. First, she was more than a collection of cells. She was her own character, quirks and all. We are now at the point where we remember her with smiles rather than tears. That’s how it should be. Trying to force our memory on a similar looking dog would do a disservice to both her and the puppy. Second, there is a world of dogs out there looking for a home. After several months, we decided to adopt again. Our new dog is puppy-energy defined, full of joy, affection…and life. She is asleep next to me right now, keeping things calm, but ready for fun if the opportunity arises. Our first dog is one of our best memories; with our new dog we will make new memories. And that too, is how it should be.
Fur, I am so sorry about your dog. Our little friends give us so much joy and it is so painful to lose them. I hope you will do a pet portrait of him. I derive much comfort seeing the portrait of my horse you did.
Fur, Sasha and Yong join me in sending condolences.
I bet my little Sitzie (1984-2003) is up at Rainbow Bridge giving your dog the bidness.
First dog portrait I ever painted was him and his buddy in my Jeep.
Fur, my condolences on the passing of your friend.
The cloning of a beloved family pet is one of the most unbelievably cruel things a person can do. As BFH said his pal was a collection of experiences, training, developed personality and all the other things that get put into a brain as the owner grows up. Even if they try to guard against it the clone owners would unconsciously expect behaviours from their clone that would have been exhibited from their deceased pet and would begin to resent the new one. The new dog wouldn’t understand why he was slowly but surely being shunned. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
I’m sorry to hear about your dog, BFH. It definitely leaves a hole in your heart. No way would I contemplate getting a clone. Reminds me of an episode one of the mods posted a while ago – “Black Mirror/Be Right Back”, which I found a bit obscene (not in the pornographic sense).
Big Fur, I am so sorry for your loss. It has to hurt, bad, but as Chauncy Gardner would say, the cold and dark winter days turn into spring when all things grow again. Brains and personality are the key with any dog. My dogs, three of them, range in age from 14 to 3 years, and size from 120 to 18 pounds. They’re best for friends and, many times my very best friends. They are very mello and, when the feel like it, will play grab ass until they want water. I’m giving the oldest one a lot of attention these days, appreciating who she is, knowing her time could come to an end sometime in the not too distant future.
all too much
Man, Big Fur Hat, so sorry to hear about this. I think I’ve seen that painting in an email about framing years back. So sad for your loss.
Mr. Fur, my condolences on your loss. I know our Rogue and Storm will die one day and I’m forever thankful to you for their wonderful portrait that captures them so beautifully.
BFH, I’m very sorry to hear of your loss. Our pets are truly members of our family.
Fur, I’m so very sorry to hear about your beloved dog. My Molly had the exact same problems at the end – seizures and high liver enzymes. It was awful to watch and I’ve no doubt we did the right thing in letting her go, but as you and many other here know, it is just so damn hard. Condolences. With your ability to capture the souls of our pets in your portraits, I just know you were a great dog “dad”. After you grieve for awhile, I hope you bless another homeless pup with your company.
Oh my lanta. I’m so sorry about your furry kid. *Sigh* It’s like losing your best friend. Sometimes it’s like losing a relative.
Gee, what’s up with the cloning dogs all of a sudden in SoKo?
I figured they’d be too busy cooking them in their “festivals”.
1. I don’t want any reanimated genes spoiling the gene pool for any animal.
2. What an absolute insult to the beloved animal.
3. People who clone their animals are self serving emotional pricks.
4. Most important: You can never clone a soul.
Sorry- that’s my opinion.
I will say prayers for all of you who mourn your fuzzies tonight.
*hugs*
BFH, Bad news about your dog. I’ve lost a few and morn them like people. Dogs are better than people actually. Never met a dog I didn’t like. The cloning thing is bull shit for the exact reasons MJA mentioned above. But here’s something else, every new dog I share my life with are different from the last, and they are all just as special. When the time is right, go get another.
Yes. That was the boy in the front, the brindle colored one.
That painting is about 3 feet by 3 feet.
we had hope he could be okay with seizure medication.
But he was much sicker than we thought.
Brave guy.