Photo: Damian Dovarganes / AP
Trakr, the rescue dog who located the last survivor in the rubble following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, has been successfully cloned and his owner, James Symington, has received the five puppies cloned from Trakr. The dogs were given to Symington by biotech company BioArts International after he entered an essay contest in 2008 explaining why Trakr should be cloned. It’s a good thing the company did the cloning when it did and didn’t waste any time, because Trakr passed away just two months ago, at age 16. His owner, a retired Canadian police officer, had his first meeting with the German shepherd pups a few days ago. “They’re identical — down to the smallest detail,” Symington said. “Few dogs are born with exceptional abilities — Trakr was one of those dogs. And if these puppies have the same attributes as Trakr, I plan on putting them in to search and rescue so they can help people the way Trakr did.”
The cloning took place at Sooam Biotech Research Foundation of South Korea and the procedure was led by Dr. Hwang Woo-Suk, who produced the world’s first canine cloning in 2005. Hwang’s team actually replaced the genetic material in eggs from random dogs with genes harvested from Trakr. After stimulation, they grew into embryos and were then placed in surrogate mothers. Five puppies, genetically identical to Trakr, resulted from the surrogate pregnancies. The first of the pups was born on Dec. 8 of last year and the last arrived on April 4.
I think it’s cool that we are now able to clone animals, and I know James Symington is happy to have five replicas of his old buddy again. Plus of course the world could use more hero animals like Trakr. I wonder though, if the day comes when I can go and get replicas of all my favorite pets so that I have identical ones for the rest of my life, then what will happen to all the animals that are born to the unspayed/un-neutered pets that are running around? Will everyone who can afford to do so keep copying their own dogs and cats so they never have to tell their kids that “Fluffy got old and passed away?” What do you think? Will cloning add to the problem of homeless cats and dogs, or will it not matter so much since many people already breed their pets or buy purebred cats and dogs instead of adopting?
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I think cats and dogs are just a stepping stone to human cloning. That raises a new set of questions. A transparent, central forum for public and scientific input would be nice (for a change) as the technology draws nearer.
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Yes, as man learns more and more ways to manipulate nature, we have to realize that sometimes just because we *can* do something doesn’t mean we *should*.