Snuppy, The First Dog Clone

South Korean researchers have succeeded in creating the first dog clone. Snuppy (short for Seoul National University Puppy) is a clone of a 3 year old Afghan hound. Snuppy joins the growing menagerie of cloned critters including cats, mules, cows, and mice.

Cloning can also be used to create stem cells that could be grown into tissues that would be perfect transplants. Bernard Siegel, head of the Genetics Policy Institute, notes:

This announcement provides further evidence that Korean scientists are far ahead of American researchers in these technologies.

President Bush and Senator Brownback support a bill which would send researchers and patients to prison who seek cures using therapeutic cloning of stem cells. Should dog cloning ultimately advance therapeutic cloning , we could have the PARADOX of curing our beloved pets while we humans are denied those cures.