Britain Cloned Its First Dog And Named It Mini Winnie
Smith's 12-year-old daschund, Winnie, is "the best sausage in the whole world," so Smith entered a contest that would see the winner's pet cloned, a procedure that would have otherwise cost £60,000. She entered some videos and says it "rollercoastered from there."
A sample of Winnie's tissue was stored in liquid nitrogen and sent to a South Korean cloning company called Sooam Biotech. Her cells were put into an egg from a dog of the same breed, and on March 30, Winnie's clone was born.
Smith was present for the birth: "I saw it being born and it looks exactly like Winnie. It is identical. Personality-wise I couldn't tell you because it doesn't see and it doesn't hear yet - it is just a little sausage dog that wriggles around drinking milk."
Smith won't get to take "mini Winnie" home for some time - quarantine rules will require the new dog to be on its own for six months to ensure its health.