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Want to Clone Your Dog? Then Bid on This Auction...
by Will Safer, posted Jun 19th 2008 at 4:19PM




Is Fido on his last legs? Well, he may have a second chance, in a manner of speaking, as long as you're sure to collect a DNA sample.

BioArts International, a San Francisco-based firm, has announced it will auction off five slots for people who want clones produced of their dogs – plus one more slot for a lucky contest winner. Despite the lessons we all learned from Stephen King's 'Pet Sematery' (in which those animals who are resurrected come back evil), BioArts claims its dog clones will not only match their donor subjects in appearance, but also in personality.

We'll admit, we're simultaneously intrigued and creeped out (especially by all the weird "clone" images of old dogs and young dogs together on the BioArts site).

The "Best Friends Again" auction will commence July 5, with five separate bidding rounds running in succession. Winning bids will have 30 days to successfully collect and supply DNA from their dogs so BioArts can get to work. Now, before you get too excited, know this: Bids start at $100,000, so you'll need deep pockets to participate in the auction.

Also, no cats, you cat-people out there.

The BioArts project got its start back in 1998 after the successful cloning of Dolly the sheep was announced to the world the year before. An organization called Genetic Savings & Clone was established to collect the DNA of a dog named Missy, who was both beloved by her family and apparently advanced in age. The so-called Missyplicity project wasn't able to clone the dog before her death, but one of the participants, a South Korean scientist, eventually did clone a dog named Snuppy in 2006. One year later, clones of Missy were created and apparently they look and behave much as the original dog did, even down to the canine's odd preference for broccoli.