Day of the clones - dogs, that is!

[Waldo]

A woman whose beloved pet dog died has had him cloned into five puppies.

Bernann McKinney, 57, from California, in the US, was heartbroken when pit bull terrier Booger died of cancer in April 2006.

But today she became the owner of five identical copies of Booger.

"It is a miracle for me because I was able to smile again, laugh again and just feel alive again," McKinney told a news conference in the South Korea capital to show off the week-old black puppies - all of whose names include the word Booger.

They are the work of the biotech firm RNL Bio, affiliated with the South Korean lab which produced the world's first cloned dog.

They claim the puppies are the first commercial pet dog clones.

"RNL Bio is commencing its worldwide services with Booger as its first successful clone," the company said in a statement.

McKinney sold her house to raise the £25,000 for RNL scientists to turn skin cells taken from Booger before he died two years ago into embryos carried by two surrogate dogs for two months until giving birth to the puppies last week.

"I had to make sacrifices and I dream of the day, some day when everyone can afford to clone their pet because losing a pet is a terrible, terrible loss to anyone."

After rescuing him from a shelter 12 years ago, Booger had become an indispensable part of her life, she said.

RNL said it expected to clone about 100 dogs next year and for the price to drop as technology improves.

Is it just me, or is this woman mad??

[Indi]

Gosh.... Goes back to Cloning of a sheep named Dolly....

Cloning of animals can be used for the benefit of mankind- well I'm not really sure - as we all know that some people will most definitely abuse this, so I feel there must be strict monitoring for this.

[Nutty_ZA]

Originally Posted by Waldo

Is it just me, or is this woman mad??

Totally Nuts

[TheGuru]

Originally Posted by Waldo

Is it just me, or is this woman mad??

Yes and yes

[InLove]

Originally Posted by Waldo

<snip>McKinney sold her house to raise the £25,000 for RNL scientists to turn skin cells taken from <snip>

Is it just me, or is this woman mad??

She sold her house?!?!

Yes she is mad.

EDIT: I just watched a video online of the puppies. One of them has a white patch on it's face. Clones eh? Surely they should all be exactly the same then?

[kazthorn]

Originally Posted by Waldo

Is it just me, or is this woman mad??

Well she did call her dog Booger I don't know what that means in the US of A but I know what it means in Australia, she is definately .