Alex Trelinski
A MARBELLA clinic has become the first in Spain to offer pet cloning where a genetic copy of a cat or dog can be made for around €55,000.
A breakthrough in animal cloning happened in 1996 with Dolly the sheep being cloned from an adult cell by scientists at the Roslin Institute in Scotland.
Since then, animal cloning has become widespread, especially in species of high economic value such as camels and horses, where cloning costs can reach €75,000.
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The Grupo OVO clinic, run by embryologist Enrique Criado, has performed five dog clones for Spanish clients and hopes to expand its market to neighbouring countries such as France and Portugal.
Cloning a dog costs around €55,000 euros, while a cat comes in €5,000 cheaper.
For people not wanting an immediate clone, the clinic offers cryopreservation of the animal’s cell line for about €3,000 which can be used for future cloning.
Cloning an animal involves replicating its genetics by extracting a sample of DNA from the animal’s skin tissue.
The extracted cells are cultured and their nucleus is inserted into an egg of the same species, previously enucleated.
This embryo, which contains 99.9% of the genetic material of the original animal, is then implanted in a female for gestation.
Although the cloned animal will be genetically very similar to the original, it will not be identical in behaviour or physical appearance, due to the small percentage of mitochondrial DNA of the donor female and the influence of environmental factors.
Celebrities like singer Barbra Striesand and Argentine President, Javier Milei, have hit the headlines for taking advantage of pet cloning.
