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CNN Live Saturday

Company Plans to Clone Dogs for Profit

Aired March 02, 2002 - 17:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Now on to an effort that celebrates dogs. Dog lovers could soon have a way to keep their four- legged buds around for much longer than mother nature intended. A California company isn't proposing to extend a dog's life, but rather replicate it. Kristen Dahlgren from our San Francisco affiliate KGO explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN DAHLGREN, KGO CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dogs. They come in all shapes and sizes. But very soon a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) company says they'll be able to replicate any shape, any size, a perfect clone.

LOU HAWTHORNE, CEO, GENETIC SAVINGS & CLONE: We'll know enough about how to do it quickly, efficiently and safely so that we can just announce one flat price, and basically open our doors to all comers.

DAHLGREN: They've already produced the world's first cloned cat, and before the end of the year researchers in their Texas lab are expected to have the first dog, a clone of Missy. Billionaire Dr. John Sperling has almost single-handedly funded the project to clone his dog. But since then, the project's exploded.

HAWTHORNE: So many people wrote in or called or e-mailed saying, would you please clone my dog or cat or horse? That we quickly realized that this is a business.

DAHLGREN: Belvedere's Leslie Torvick (ph) was one of the first to bank her dog's DNA.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was a quintessential great dog.

DAHLGREN: Digger died last year. But before she did, a sample of her DNA was saved and frozen. Though Torvick's (ph) adopted another dog, she says once the price comes down, she will clone Digger.

GLORIA HOOD, DOG OWNER: I would easily pay $5,000 to have a clone of Digger, and I could contemplate $10,000.

DAHLGREN (on camera): So how close would a clone be? It might look like Morgan here, but pet owners have to realize personality is more than just genetic. HOOD: I wouldn't want it to be exactly like Digger. Digger is, you know, a one-time thing. But if she could be a great sequel.

DAHLGREN (voice-over): But not all pet owners think cloning is a good idea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that that's too precious to repeat. I think you're messing with nature too much.

DAHLGREN: As for those accusations they're playing God...

HAWTHORNE: Concepts like playing God just don't concern me. It's something that people do.

DAHLGREN: Genetic Savings & Clone says they work by a strict code of bioethics, taking good care of their animals, while making people's dreams come true.

In Belvedere, Kristen Dahlgren, ABC 7 News.

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