大象传媒

Sue Broom takes a look at the science and the business of cloning individual animals.

Whether it's a favourite show bull, a big cat on the brink of extinction or to recreate a favourite, much loved pet cat or dog. Cloning is an expensive and not always satisfactory business. Over the past 3 years the only US company offering cloning services for pet owners has folded.

Was this because the ability to control all the steps in cloning dogs is still a long way off? Or because CC or Copy Cat, the first cloned cat looked nothing like its donor? Or is the $50,000 fee to grieving pet owners to replace beloved Fluffy just too much?

Cloning individual animals is leaning more towards high financial value animals - like champion rodeo horses and prize winning show bulls and animals with intrinsic rarity value such as those very close to the brink of extinction.

Sue travels to Texas to visit some of these clones and their owners to find out just how much of a carbon copy they are.



First broadcast 29th July 2008