Send in the clones

Is your dog the perfect pooch? You might want to consider this opportunity. The Associated Press reports:

A biotech company announced Wednesday that it will clone the dogs of the five highest bidders in a series of online auctions. Opening bids start at $100,000 for the service by Mill Valley-based BioArts International.

BioArts chief executive Lou Hawthorne formerly ran Genetic Savings & Clone, which offered to clone pet cats for $50,000 but folded in 2006 because few were willing to pay so much.

But Hawthorne said another service he provided -- storing pet DNA for future possible clones -- showed him the market for dog clones was strong.

"The average dog owner has a different relationship with his dog than the average cat owner," Hawthorne said. "The level of intensity on the dog side just dwarfed what we saw on the cat side."

To conduct the clonings, BioArts has partnered with a South Korean team that created three clones of Hawthorne's family dog, Missy, who died in 2002.

The team was led by Hwang Woo-suk, who scandalized the international scientific community in 2005 when his breakthrough human cloning research was found to have been faked. But his current endeavor has been verified.

Tests found that DNA samples taken from Missy and the three other dogs appeared to belong to the same individual.

Hawthorne said that after spending 15 years with Missy, he is taking pleasure in seeing her mischievous streak in her clones. They also like steamed broccoli -- just as she did.