US company says it clones copy cats

WASHINGTON – Two cloned kittens have been born using a new cloning method that may be safer and more efficient than traditional methods, a US company said yesterday.

Genetic Savings & Clone promises to clone anyone’s pet – for US$50,000 or so – and started with chief executive officer Lou Hawthorne’s own pet cat. The two kittens, Tabouli and Baba Ganoush, were born to separate surrogate mothers in June, the company said.Its report was not submitted for the traditional scientific review process and has not been scrutinized by cloning experts.But the company is less interested in the scientific questions and medical promise of cloning and more interested in its business model – helping people make copies of their beloved pets.”These two remarkable kittens should finally put to rest the issue of resemblance between clones and their genetic donors,” Hawthorne said in a statement.Some experts have argued that cloning pets is a gamble, as non-genetic factors, such as conditions in the mother’s womb, can affect coat colour and temperament.The company used a new method called chromatin transfer, which had been perfected by cloning expert James Robl and colleagues at Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Hematech LLC.Hematech is using the method to clone cattle that produce human antibodies in their milk.- Nampa-ReutersThe two kittens, Tabouli and Baba Ganoush, were born to separate surrogate mothers in June, the company said.Its report was not submitted for the traditional scientific review process and has not been scrutinized by cloning experts.But the company is less interested in the scientific questions and medical promise of cloning and more interested in its business model – helping people make copies of their beloved pets.”These two remarkable kittens should finally put to rest the issue of resemblance between clones and their genetic donors,” Hawthorne said in a statement.Some experts have argued that cloning pets is a gamble, as non-genetic factors, such as conditions in the mother’s womb, can affect coat colour and temperament.The company used a new method called chromatin transfer, which had been perfected by cloning expert James Robl and colleagues at Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Hematech LLC.Hematech is using the method to clone cattle that produce human antibodies in their milk.- Nampa-Reuters