- DALLAS (AP) -- A couple who are convinced they have the perfect dog
with the perfect bark and the perfect howl are giving $2.3 million to Texas
A&M University to clone their beloved Missy.
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- The mystery couple sent out requests
for proposals from research institutions a year ago via the Internet. This
summer, Texas A&M was chosen and a contract signed for what is being
called the Missyplicity Project.
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- Missy, a collie-husky mix who at 11 years
old is getting up there, has already been flown to College Station to have
tissue samples taken.
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- ``I think it´s extremely valuable´´
research, Dr. Mark Westhusin, co-director of the university´s Reproductive
Sciences Laboratory, said Tuesday. ``It goes beyond the impetus of cloning
dogs.´´ And it's no joke, said Lou Hawthorne, president of
Bio Arts and Research Corp., or BARC, of San Francisco. The company served
as the go-between for the dog-loving millionaire in his negotiations with
Texas A&M.
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- ``We have gone out of our way to make
sure with this project that if the animals could talk, they would feel
this was a positive project to be associated with,´´ Hawthorne
said.
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- He said the dog's owner demanded anonymity
because he ``just doesn´t want to deal with a lot of disruptions´´
from the news media.
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- Scientists have made carbon copies of
mice, cows and sheep, but not dogs. Texas A&M already has an extensive
research program involving cloning of livestock.
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- Besides making a litter of Missy pups,
the Texas A&M scientists hope to learn more about canine reproduction
and improve contraception and sterilization methods, Westhusin said. He
said the project could also lead to the replication of exceptional animals,
such as guide dogs or rescue dogs.
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- Hawthorne said one reason dog cloning
has not been done before is that dogs' reproductive physiology is more
complicated than that of some other animals.
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- ``If we´re very lucky, we should
have puppies within a year,´´ he said.
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- Copyright© Associated Press
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