Woman Orders Clone of Beloved Dog for $150K

A California woman has placed the first order for a cloned dog with South Korean biotech firm RNL Bio, pledging $150,000 for a genetic duplicate of her dead pitbull, Booger, who once saved her from a dog attack, reports the BBC. Seoul National University scientists, who produced the first cloned canine in 2005, will use tissue from Booger’s ear.

It’s the first time a dog has been cloned for commercial use. The company says it can produce 30 dogs a year but expects to be able to deliver 200 a year by 2010, dropping the price as cloning technology improves to less than $50,000 per puppy. The Korean Customs service is planning to order cloned drug-sniffing dogs from RNL. (Read more cloning stories.)