11 Aug 2004
It's for Real

A friend sent me this link via email: it sounds like something out of a movie, complete with ultra-cutsey name and logo, but they're apparently quite for real. They're in Sausalito, California (where else?), and are having a "Nine Lives Extravaganza" this year - cloning nine cats, the "products" to be presented in December of this year. Gene banking", indeed!

I just wonder if folks think that Fido II will be really "identical" to Fido I - and what does "identical" really mean, anyway? They'll have the same genetics, but that's about it. The company's pretty vague: they talk about reproducing looks and "behavioral tendencies", and have a Code of Bioethics to which they say they're committed.

Perhaps we'll finally figure out how much of identity is genetic, and how much is enviroment. This could give us an empirical answer to settle the age-old "nature vs. nurture" debate once and for all. I will have to admit, though, that cloning and the technology associated with it makes me uneasy from several standpoints. But there's no way to put the genie back in the bottle, now, so I suppose we'll just have to hope for the best.

Note to self: check back with this site in December.

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