Couple spends $155,000 to clone dead dog

[cheerfulgreek]

Here's the article. I tried making it a link, but I didn't know how to. Below is the article. I thought it was interesting. I love animals, but I wouldn't shell out $155,000 to clone a dead pet.

By Michael Inbar
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 1 hour, 10 minutes ago

The miracle of life made an encore for Edgar and Nina Otto. A year after their beloved yellow Labrador retriever, Lancelot, died of cancer, the Florida couple welcomed a cloned copy into their home Tuesday. They’ve dubbed their doggie double “Lancelot Encore.”
Speaking live with Al Roker via satellite on TODAY Wednesday, Edgar Otto said that it only took the 10-week-old puppy a few hours to assume his forebear’s place of preeminence in the family’s large menagerie, which includes nine other dogs.
“This morning, when the pack runs from the bedroom into the kitchen, he led the pack, which the old Lancelot did,” Edgar told Roker. “This is a puppy, 10 weeks old, and he led the pack!”

Nina added, “We noticed that he bonded immediately, within an hour, with every other pet in the house.”

Springing into auction
To be sure, the Ottos love their animals. On their 12-acre spread in West Boca, Fla., the couple tend to four birds, 10 cats and six sheep along with their kennel’s worth of pooches.
But Lancelot always occupied a special place in their hearts: Edgar called Lancelot “an unbelievable, humanlike dog, a true companion.” Thus the Ottos had the foresight to have DNA frozen from Lancelot six years ago.
Then, last June — six months after Lance’s death — they learned the Northern California biotech firm BioArts International was holding a dog-cloning auction. They threw their hat in the ring, and won.
The cloning didn’t come cheap — the Ottos shelled out $155,000 for the opportunity. But it worked. BioArts partnered with Dr. Hwang S Woo-Suk, of the South Korea biotech research firm Sooam, to bring a second Lancelot into the Otto household.
An egg containing the late Lancelot’s DNA was placed in a Korean dog to create Lancelot Encore. Once the pup was able to leave his birth mother and go out on his own, he was flown from South Korea to San Francisco before finally making his way to Miami International Airport, where the Ottos were pacing with anticipation.

Spitting image
“He came out of the chute and he actually ran to us, so it was amazing,” Nina Otto told Roker. “He looked just like my original Lancelot, so I was thrilled. I had been getting updates and pictures over the past 10 weeks, but the real thing is what I wanted to see.”

I tried to post the video, but I don't know how.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek

Here's the article. I tried making it a link, but I didn't know how to. Below is the article. I thought it was interesting. I love animals, but I wouldn't shell out $155,000 to clone a dead pet.

By Michael Inbar
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 1 hour, 10 minutes ago

The miracle of life made an encore for Edgar and Nina Otto. A year after their beloved yellow Labrador retriever, Lancelot, died of cancer, the Florida couple welcomed a cloned copy into their home Tuesday. They’ve dubbed their doggie double “Lancelot Encore.”
Speaking live with Al Roker via satellite on TODAY Wednesday, Edgar Otto said that it only took the 10-week-old puppy a few hours to assume his forebear’s place of preeminence in the family’s large menagerie, which includes nine other dogs.
“This morning, when the pack runs from the bedroom into the kitchen, he led the pack, which the old Lancelot did,” Edgar told Roker. “This is a puppy, 10 weeks old, and he led the pack!”

Nina added, “We noticed that he bonded immediately, within an hour, with every other pet in the house.”

Springing into auction
To be sure, the Ottos love their animals. On their 12-acre spread in West Boca, Fla., the couple tend to four birds, 10 cats and six sheep along with their kennel’s worth of pooches.
But Lancelot always occupied a special place in their hearts: Edgar called Lancelot “an unbelievable, humanlike dog, a true companion.” Thus the Ottos had the foresight to have DNA frozen from Lancelot six years ago.
Then, last June — six months after Lance’s death — they learned the Northern California biotech firm BioArts International was holding a dog-cloning auction. They threw their hat in the ring, and won.
The cloning didn’t come cheap — the Ottos shelled out $155,000 for the opportunity. But it worked. BioArts partnered with Dr. Hwang S Woo-Suk, of the South Korea biotech research firm Sooam, to bring a second Lancelot into the Otto household.
An egg containing the late Lancelot’s DNA was placed in a Korean dog to create Lancelot Encore. Once the pup was able to leave his birth mother and go out on his own, he was flown from South Korea to San Francisco before finally making his way to Miami International Airport, where the Ottos were pacing with anticipation.

Spitting image
“He came out of the chute and he actually ran to us, so it was amazing,” Nina Otto told Roker. “He looked just like my original Lancelot, so I was thrilled. I had been getting updates and pictures over the past 10 weeks, but the real thing is what I wanted to see.”

I tried to post the video, but I don't know how.

not the exact link but just more info for you:

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/na...gType=natsouth

and here is your video link

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/261848...92683#28892683

[jwright25]

Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek

The miracle of life made an encore for Edgar and Nina Otto. A year after their beloved yellow Labrador retriever, Lancelot, died of cancer, the Florida couple welcomed a cloned copy into their home Tuesday.

Wouldn't the same thing happen to a clone?

[Munchkin03]

As soon as I saw that the couple in question was from Florida, I stopped reading.

Florida is the crazy state!

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

not the exact link but just more info for you:

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/na...gType=natsouth

and here is your video link

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/261848...92683#28892683

Thanks Daemon. How did you link the video? I'm not sure what I was doing wrong.

Originally Posted by jwright25

Wouldn't the same thing happen to a clone?

I don't know. Possibly, I guess. But then again it may not, because cancer is usually the result of genetic damage that happens over a lifetime, which is why most cases occur in people over sixty. It's the same with most pets. It usually starts when one of the cells starts to grow in an uncontrolled way. Since their dog was cloned, then it's pretty much starting its life over again. I'm thinking they would just have to limit gene damage by maybe avoiding some of the things that may have caused the dog to get cancer in the first place.

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

As soon as I saw that the couple in question was from Florida, I stopped reading.

Florida is the crazy state!

lol this made me laugh. Maybe it's the hurricanes.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek

Thanks Daemon. How did you link the video? I'm not sure what I was doing wrong.

cut n paste

[Still BLUTANG]

i'm confused. yes, the puppy has the original dog's dna - but that doesn't mean he'll have the same temperment or memories and actually BE the same dog, does it?

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

cut n paste

I did that, but it didn't work.

[nikki1920]

$155,500K? They could have adopted another dog from the ASPCA for $150. I mean, do you, but it must be nice to have money like that.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek

I did that, but it didn't work.

Copy the URL. In the message box for your response, click on the hyperlink button: . Paste the URL as prompted. Click "OK."

And these people are nuts.

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by Still BLUTANG

i'm confused. yes, the puppy has the original dog's dna - but that doesn't mean he'll have the same temperment or memories and actually BE the same dog, does it?

Not the same memories but I don't see why the temperament wouldn't be the same.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek

Not the same memories but I don't see why the temperment wouldn't be the same.

Depends on how much temperament is influenced by "nature" and how much by "nurture."

[LadyDread2010]

I can think of a lot more important things to spend that much money on.

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Copy the URL. In the message box for your response, click on the hyperlink button: . Paste the URL as prompted. Click "OK."

And these people are nuts.

I'll just stick to letting you guys do the linking. I have no clue what you just posted.

And yeah, I would have to agree here.

ETA: I love animals but they had a zoo. That's too many.

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by LadyDread2010

I can think of a lot more important things to spend that much money on.

Me too. That would pay for all four years of my education.