100 clone of thousands of dollars: how the rich pay a fortune for copies of dead dogs

The man who "created" the dog

In 2004, the veterinarian and researcher Hwang Wu Sok, while working at the laboratory at Seoul University, announced that he and his team had successfully cloned a human embryo. A year later, he created a copy of a puppy, using DNA cells from the ear of the Afghan hound. Hwan has planted fetuses in the uterus for 123 surrogate mothers, but only one has given birth to a healthy puppy.

However, the fame was short-lived — in 2006, the scientist was fired from the laboratory for fraud — in fact, he did not succeed in cloning the human embryo. He took advantage of this fiction to get government funding and complete his project to create a copy of a dog. Initially, the veterinarian was sentenced to two years in prison, but later the punishment was canceled. As the judge explained, Khvan “demonstrated convincing evidence of remorse.”

Having escaped prison, the South Korean continued his research. He concentrated on cloning pigs and cows, but in 2007, a representative of billionaire and founder of the University of Phoenix, John Sperling, unexpectedly contacted him. The businessman explained that several years ago a dog had died with his lover. The woman dreamed of returning the animal, and Sperling turned to Hwan. Two years later, he safely fulfilled the order, receiving additional money to expand the business.

The process itself, carefully regulated through years of trial and error, is known as "the transplantation of somatic cell nuclei." It all starts with an egg from a donor dog: using a high-powered microscope, scientists pierce a microcell in the egg and remove the nucleus where DNA is located.

Then they replace the nucleus with a cage from a dog that needs to be cloned - usually a piece of skin or the inside of the cheeks serves as the core. Then a small charge of current is passed through the hybrid egg to cause cell division, after which the embryo is inserted into the surrogate uterus. If the transfer is successful, a puppy will be born in 60 days.

When asked why so many people want to clone their dogs, Hwang answers simply: the dog is a family member, and the owners want to continue to communicate with him for as long as possible. The scientist emphasizes that customers do not receive an exact copy of the deceased pet. Often clones look identical to the original and even repeat some of their features, but they have no real dog memories.

Hwan prefers not to go into the ethical side of cloning. He points out that making copies of animals is fundamentally different from human cloning (the company opposes this) and can be beneficial to society. There is a common sense in this: through the study of animal embryos in the laboratory, they are looking for ways to combat Alzheimer's disease and diabetes.

In addition, Hwan is exploring the possibility of "reviving" a woolly mammoth with the help of the skin of extinct creatures, which was found in Siberian ice. The scientist's plan is to cross the DNA of a mammoth with the egg of a modern elephant. If successful, this will be the first hybrid of an elephant and a mammoth.

Closed story

Despite the success of Hwan, his reputation has not yet recovered after the disclosure of deception. The South Korean government continues to prohibit the researcher from conducting any experiments on human eggs and stem cells. However, this does not prevent the business of a scientist from growing: Streisand approached him on the advice of the American businessman and co-founder of the FOX television channel Barry Diller.

Shortly before that, he appealed to the South Korean scientist with a request to “return” to him a dead pet Jack-Russel Terrier. As a result, the businessman received three clones of the dead animal that were almost identical in appearance. Two of them live in the Diller mansion in Beverly Hills, and the third is with his wife and model Diana von Furstenberg in Connecticut.

However, not all belong to the cloning of pets so loyal. After the death of his beloved dog, the British journalist and magazine publisher Tom Rabiton could not decide on the procedure for a long time. He was embarrassed by the unnaturalness of the venture, but even more frustrated by the prospect of never seeing his dog again. To pay for the operation required 100 thousand dollars, the reporter sold two cars of the brand Mercedes SL. The operation was successful, and Rabiton received two puppies.

They are very similar, but still different. One looks almost like the original, and the other is more like a sister [of a dead dog]. This is 85%, not 100%. They are looking at me right now. They know what I'm talking about.