The Dark Side of Cat Cloning: Cost, Process, Ethics & More
In the almost three decades since the creation of Dolly, the world’s first cloned sheep, the technology of cloning has been tweaked and perfected to a point where biotech companies are now offering to clone our pets. Imagine being able to get another 14 or 15 years with our beloved cat, starting all over again from kittenhood. Sound too good to be true? Well, maybe it is.
No longer the stuff of science fiction, pet cloning companies are reporting waiting lists for their services, with demand increasing every day. And it’s understandable, of course. One of the hardest things about having pets is that their lifespans are so much shorter than ours, and we are destined to grieve the loss of our furry loved ones, often multiple times throughout our lives. While scientists haven’t quite cracked the code on extending our pets’ lives, they appear to have perfected the technology to allow us to relive them.
For just $1750, you can have your cat’s genetic material preserved and stored until you decide (or can afford) to go ahead with the next step: cloning. At around $50,000 a piece, it’s not surprising that only 20% of clients actually proceed with the cloning process, although it’s not clear whether that decision is down to cost or cold feet.
When you take a look at the cloning company websites, you’ll find lots of information about the cloning process, and how your carbon copy cat is created. In a somewhat complicated nutshell, cells are taken from your pet, cultured and preserved, and kept in storage until the green light is given to go ahead with cloning.
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