BioArts International, the world's first commercial dog cloning service, has created five clones of a 9/11 German shepherd rescue dog named Trakr, which was deemed the world's most "cloneworthy" dog in a competition. The five clones, each worth around $144,000, were given for free to Trakr's handler, James Symington, and were especially welcome considering that Trakr died in April.
BioArts International chief executive Lou Hawthorne told AFP: "I think 99 percent of the time people should get their pets from shelters, but can we agree though that one percent of the time, if you have a one in a million dog and you have the money to pay for it, you should be able to go to either a breeder or a cloner?"
When will the day arrive where we ask that about our own children, or ourselves? Instead of enlarging our families through the usual procreation or adoption, we decide that someone is a "one in a million" person and is worthy of cloning, and we have the money to burn. Personally, I think the world could use at least five more of me, and at least a dozen more of my wonderful child.
However, being "one in a million" -- or actually being entirely unique, as every human and animal is -- does not justify cloning, and actually could be an argument against cloning. A better question is whether cloning should be commercially available at all, at any cost. Other important questions that do not seem resolved include: what grounds should justify the procedure; who should be allowed to determine that those reasons have been met; how are cloning labs going to be overseen; what harm can come of this; and on and on.
An excerpt from the AFP story appears below. Note that the story refers to the clones as "descendants" and "offspring," which is a bit misleading, but we don't really have the vocabulary yet to deal with this new phenomenon.
BioArts International chief executive Lou Hawthorne told AFP: "I think 99 percent of the time people should get their pets from shelters, but can we agree though that one percent of the time, if you have a one in a million dog and you have the money to pay for it, you should be able to go to either a breeder or a cloner?"
When will the day arrive where we ask that about our own children, or ourselves? Instead of enlarging our families through the usual procreation or adoption, we decide that someone is a "one in a million" person and is worthy of cloning, and we have the money to burn. Personally, I think the world could use at least five more of me, and at least a dozen more of my wonderful child.
However, being "one in a million" -- or actually being entirely unique, as every human and animal is -- does not justify cloning, and actually could be an argument against cloning. A better question is whether cloning should be commercially available at all, at any cost. Other important questions that do not seem resolved include: what grounds should justify the procedure; who should be allowed to determine that those reasons have been met; how are cloning labs going to be overseen; what harm can come of this; and on and on.
An excerpt from the AFP story appears below. Note that the story refers to the clones as "descendants" and "offspring," which is a bit misleading, but we don't really have the vocabulary yet to deal with this new phenomenon.
James Symington, a former Canadian police officer, choked back tears as he formally took possession of the five descendants of his beloved German shepherd named Trakr, who died in April.
Symington was presented with Trakr's offspring after winning a competition organized by California firm BioArts International -- the "Golden Clone Giveaway" -- to find the world's most "cloneworthy" dog...Symington and Trakr arrived at the site of the World Trade Center collapse, commonly referred to as Ground Zero, on September 12, 2001 and were one of the first K9 search and rescue teams on the site.
After working nearly non-stop for 48 hours, Trakr located the last human survivor found in the rubble of the twin towers.
"Trakr was an extraordinary search and rescue dog. His work at Ground Zero was the culmination of his career," Symington said. "I look forward to the day that these puppies can follow in Trakr's footsteps and play an important role in rescues, like Trakr did."
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