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Leave it to those wacky Korean cloners. In December, scientists from Gyeongsang National University gave us fluorescent kitties. Now, we have cute little puppies!
These aren't the first cloned pets on the market, we have stores that sell glowing fish. But these clones have a bit higher price tag. For $50,000 Bernann McKinney got 5 new "Boogers" from RNL Bio; "Booger McKinney," "Booger Lee," "Booger Ra," "Booger Hong and "Booger Park." That's $10,000 a Booger!
Still, who can resist these cute little boogers? I have a picture of the puppies below the fold and as you can see, they're adorable!
You can also see Ms. McKinney squeezing one her brand new Boogers here (AP article).
It's a heartwarming story. From USA Today, the original Booger
saved her life when she was attacked by another dog three times his size. The incident resulted in her left hand being severely injured, and injured her leg nerves and stomach. Doctors later reconstructed her hand and she spent part of her recovery in a wheelchair.
Ms. McKinney had a strong attachment to her dog. She had even tried to get Booger clones before from Genetics Savings and Clone but they shut down in 2006, leaving her Booger-less.
This time the cloning produced a result. The team, headed by Korean scientist Lee Byeong-chun, claims to have identified the clones as genuine. The claim is being tested by another group at Lee's University.
I know there are people who will criticize Ms. McKinney and say she was misguided and she hasn't really restored her beloved Booger to life. They're right of course. But I also know many people who always get the same breed of dog because they like the personality traits that are characteristic of that breed. And, who can blame dog owners for forgetting sometimes that the second dog is not the same dog as the first? Emotions aren't logical. I think for all practical purposes, Ms. McKinney's cloned Boogers are close enough.
And they're really, really cute.
UPDATE: The New Scientist blog (and lots of news reports) tell us that Bernann McKinney's story is even more unusual than that of her pups. This picture shows what one of the puppies has to say.
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Comments
$50k for a dog which will live for probably less than half of the average lifespan of that breed? Not the best financial investment ever.
Posted by: TomJoe | August 7, 2008 12:58 PM
Oh, I'd never say that was a good investment. It's just that people don't think rationally when it comes to their pets.
Posted by: Sandra Porter | August 7, 2008 1:00 PM
Speaking of thinking rationally ... it seems that Ms. Kinney may be a bail jumper, convicted of kidnapping and rape back in 1978.
New Scientist Blog report on Bernann/Joyce McKinney.
Posted by: TomJoe | August 7, 2008 1:13 PM
Thanks TomJoe,
This story just gets more interesting all the time. Maybe next we'll find out she's a Raelian.
Posted by: Sandra Porter | August 7, 2008 1:26 PM
Done and done. Clones of my dog, Izzy (Izzinator McWizzface) are now available for $15k
http://i34.tinypic.com/290vviw.jpg
http://i38.tinypic.com/2mn3gn7.jpg
Posted by: Andrew | August 7, 2008 3:32 PM
Andrew: I love the bee outfit. What a cutie!
Posted by: Sandra Porter | August 7, 2008 4:03 PM
"Not the best financial investment ever."
That depends on how much money a person has to burn and what they consider a good return. Not everything pays dividends in cash.
Posted by: Ian | August 8, 2008 8:26 AM
Hi
in fact, it is all a lie, a fraud, a PR fraud. read on
I am doing research on this fake cloning Booger story. Ms McKinney is
a serial liar. she lied about being a screen writer, she lied about
teaching drama "at several US colleges, she lied at first about being
the Mormon rapist, and did you know she did not have to pay full
150,0o0 USD fee, reduced to just 50,000 for her, because she HELPED
OUT with publicity, according to the lab. read between the lines,
those dogs were not cloned from booger's dna, they are just normal
puppies, cute as hell, but we been had by a serial liar. i am looking
into this. it's funny, and sad. WATCH THIS STORY IMPLODE…..
Comment by danny bloom — August 12, 2008 @ 5:18 am
RNL Bio charges up to $150,000 for dog cloning but will receive just a
third of that sum from McKinney because she is the first customer and
helped with publicity, said company head Ra Jeong-chan.
****smoking gun……HELPED WITH PR.,……see!
Comment by danny bloom — August 12, 2008 @ 5:18 am
this story from Korea was in JUNE, notice the first sentence qualifier
in the photo "CLAIMED TO BE" CLONED DOGS
danny
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2008/06/133_25184.html
Three claimed-to-be clones of a family dog Missy, produced in between
December 2007 and April 2008 by Hwang Woo-suk.
Comment by danny bloom — August 12, 2008 @ 5:18 am
Posted by: danny bloom | August 12, 2008 7:46 AM
Sandra
what i mean, is, those dogs were never cloned. the entire story was a fake PR ploy by the clone firm in Kroea, with PR cooperation by Ms McKinney. You need to read between the lines. nobody has yet verified that the dogs were actually clones and NOBODY EVER WILL, because they were not cloned,. blog on this now. it's very sad. the entire world got faked by this amaizng Pr lady
Hi
I am doing research on this fake cloning Booger story. Ms McKinney is
a serial liar. she lied about being a screen writer, she lied about
teaching drama "at several US colleges, she lied at first about being
the Mormon rapist, and did you know she did not have to pay full
150,0o0 USD fee, reduced to just 50,000 for her, because she HELPED
OUT with publicity, according to the lab. read between the lines,
those dogs were not cloned from booger's dna, they are just normal
puppies, cute as hell, but we been had by a serial liar. i am looking
into this. it's funny, and sad. WATCH THIS STORY IMPLODE…..
Comment by danny bloom — August 12, 2008 @ 5:18 am
RNL Bio charges up to $150,000 for dog cloning but will receive just a
third of that sum from McKinney because she is the first customer and
helped with publicity, said company head Ra Jeong-chan.
****smoking gun……HELPED WITH PR.,……see!
Comment by danny bloom — August 12, 2008 @ 5:18 am
this story from Korea was in JUNE, notice the first sentence qualifier
in the photo "CLAIMED TO BE" CLONED DOGS
danny
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2008/06/133_25184.html
Three claimed-to-be clones of a family dog Missy, produced in between
December 2007 and April 2008 by Hwang Woo-suk.
Comment by danny bloom — August 12, 2008 @ 5:18 am
Posted by: danny bloom | August 12, 2008 7:48 AM
What's wrong with the promotional discount for the first customer? Booger is not the first clone. In dog cloning history, there have been a lots clones since Snuppy in 2005. I think the reporter at Korea Herald was crooked and tried to hurt the company's reputation. Don't worry about genuine clone. All of clones have been proved as genuine ones so far.
Posted by: spearman | August 14, 2008 10:24 PM