Nowadays, pets are practically considered members of the family. In that sense, when they die, they end up leaving a very big hole for their absence. That was one of the main reasons why they started trying to produce the cloning of pets, with the intention that they would be around forever. Learn more about advances in animal cloning studies.
Read more: Learn more about cloning and the types
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Learn more about cloning in pets
The cloning of pets is being increasingly implemented and accepted in the world, in order to make tutors always have their companions. South Korea is the industry leader, having produced its first clone in 2005, followed by the US in 2015 and China, which started in 2019.
To clone an animal, scientists grow its cells in the laboratory and inject them into an egg without a nucleus. The egg goes through a series of processes before becoming an embryo. After reaching this stage, it is placed in the womb of a surrogate, which results in the cloning of the animal.
The procedure is for a small number of people, because it is expensive. ViaGen, for example, charges US$ 50 million (R$ 230 million) to clone chickens, US$ 30 million (R$ 140 million) to clone cats and US$ 85 million (R$ 400 million) to clone horses. Famous people like Barbra Streisand and Simon Cowell have created copies of their dogs with the company.
Are cloned animals the same?
Visually, the new animal is identical to the previous one, but its behavior can vary greatly. They are like twins who go through different life experiences and, as a result, develop different personalities.
However, animal cloning raises ethical concerns. Some experts, such as Penny Hawkins, claim that preparing the fetus for ovulation can be painful and distressing. In addition, the procedure causes more animals to be marketed, while others spend their entire lives in shelters.