Witnessing your beloved pet's death is a terrible experience. It may sound like a miracle to be able to see him/her alive again. In a way, this did happen in China recently:
Earlier this month, Chinese businessman Huang Yu was heartbroken when his pet cat Garlic was dead.
In my heart, Garlic is irreplaceable, said Huang.
Feeling desperate, he came up with the idea to clone his cat. He then contacted Sinogene (), a biotech company based in Beijing, and spent about RMB 146,000 to re-create Garlic.
Seven months later, Sinogene produced Chinas first cloned cat. Garlic was back!
"The cloned kitten is 90 per cent like my original cat," Huang said.
In fact, cloning animals is becoming more common these days in China. For example, Chinas first cloned police dog reported working this year.
Last year, identical long-tailed macaques, Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, were born at a lab in China. Their unique feature? Being exact replicas of a donor monkey.
The news sparked controversy and heated discussions. Some scientists think that genetically identical monkeys can be extremely helpful for research on human diseases. But critics are worried that the work raises important ethical concerns about increased research into human cloning.
With the number of Chinese pet lovers on the rise, the field of cloning animals has expanded from scientific research to the consumer market.
The New York Times reported that the first duplicate cat in the country demonstrates Chinas increasing development in gene research. This could signal its entry into a potentially lucrative and unregulated market for cloning pets.
Many mainstream media also raise ethical questions surrounding cloning:
The issue of cloning human beings is alarming and is currently banned as a practice worldwide. However, there are still no clear regulations on cloning animals, across the globe or in China.
There is little doubt that the complex issue of cloning pets commercially will continue to be a prevalent discussion in the realms of science and consumerism going forward.
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