17 February 2002
HAIL CC + GIFT CERTIFICATE! CONGRATULATIONS...
GIFT CERTIFICATE!
Congratulations... this certificate entitles YOU to a credit... for
the purchase of services from GENETICS SAVING & CLONE
https://secure.savingsandclone.com/services_giftcertificates_highres.cfm?div=Pets
The Mission
Genetic Savings & Clone (GSC) is a new kind of biotechnology company,
which markets advanced genetic services directly to the general public
via the Internet. It is the mission of the Pet Division of GSC to make
gene banking and cloning technology available to the average pet owner.
http://www.savingsandclone.com/company_mission.cfm?div=pets
The potential
The potential market for cloned companion animals is large; according
to 1996 data from the American Veterinary Medical Association an estimated
59 million U.S. households have at least one dog or cat. The majority of
these animals have been spayed or neutered, and truly exceptional individuals
therefore cannot be replicated by means other than cloning.
http://www.savingsandclone.com/news_cat_faq.cfm#commercial
GSC has an exclusive option on the [pet cloning] technology... and we
expect to begin commercial cat cloning on a very limited case-by-case basis
later this year.
http://www.savingsandclone.com
GSC's initial service is gene banking: cellular DNA is first extracted from your animal by your own veterinarian using materials supplied by GSC, then the samples are shipped to GSC via BioBox·, grown in culture in GSC's laboratories for up to one month, then finally cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen.
Anyone can order GSC services, either online
<http://www.savingsandclone.com> or by calling 866-9CLONES
(866-925-6637)
We currently offer gene banking of any mammal other than humans
Gene Banking Standard (for live, healthy animals): $895 each
Emergency (for terminal or recently deceased animals): $1395 each
GSC accepts American Express, Discover, MasterCard, and Visa.
Maintenance
The annual maintenance fee for Standard jobs is $100 per year, versus
$150 for Emergency jobs (which involve twice as much tissue).
...After numerous experiments and actual post-mortem jobs, we can only accept post-mortem jobs on a case by case basis. Remember, if your animal dies unexpectedly, DO NOT FREEZE THE BODY, (cool but not frozen is best) and call GSC immediately.
GSC maintains redundant sets of client DNA at two independent locations
- a main facility and an "offsite backup" facility ˜ in case of fire or
natural disaster.
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*GENETICS SAVING & CLONE "Drop your genes here!"* [banner ad at
http://www.missyplicity.com/M2.Pages/M2.team.html]
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http://www.savingsandclone.com/
HAIL CC!
[cute image of CC]
Savings & Clone is delighted to announce the birth of the world's first cloned cat, on December 22nd, 2001, at Texas A&M University. CC was produced through Operation CopyCat, part of the <http://www.missyplicity.com> Missyplicity Project, funded by GSC.
CC shows every sign of being a perfectly healthy and normal kitten. She enjoys eating, sleeping (of course) and playing with people, toys, and other cats.
CC's genetic donor is a calico named Rainbow, a resident of the CopyCat
colony at Texas A&M. The fact that CC herself is not a calico is a
fascinating genetic event - which is described - with pictures here
<http://www.savingsandclone.com/news_cat_faq.cfm#calico>
GSC has an exclusive option on the technology used to produce CC, and
we expect to begin commercial cat cloning on a very limited case-by-case
basis later this year. We currently offer gene banking of any mammal other
than humans.
<http://www.savingsandclone.com/services_genebanking.cfm?div=Pets>
At GSC, we understand that cloning animals of any kind is controversial,
and we are committed to performing this work to the highest ethical standards.
Our staff is guided by a strong and binding
<http://www.savingsandclone.com/ethics_codeofethics.cfm?div=Pets>
For more information, please review the Pet section of this website, or call us toll-free at 888-833-6063.
Representatives of the media can click <news_pressreleases_5_access.cfm>
for information on covering this story.
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Cloned kitty opens door to business of copying pets
EXCERPT FIRST CLONED KITTY
Tom Arnold
National Post
To create CC (SHORT FOR COPYCAT) the scientists took DNA from an adult calico-and-white adult cat and injected it into a "hollowed-out" egg cell whose nucleus had been removed. The egg was then jolted into life with an electric shock and implanted into a tabby cat. The kitten looks completely unlike the tabby that gave birth to her. Nor is she visually identical to her biological mother, although their DNA is the same.
The scientists said her coat colouring was unique because conditions in the womb contribute to an animal's marking. This is particularly true in cats, where coat colour is influenced by unknown factors and by genes that are turned on and off according to unknown circumstances.
As with all previously cloned species, the success rate for cloned cats is low. The researchers implanted 87 cloned embryos into eight surrogate mother cats (not the same ones that donated the DNA). Two got pregnant and CC was the only live birth.
"If these odds can be shortened and CC: remains in good health, pet cloning may one day be feasible," Nature reported.
The cat cloning research is being funded with more than US$3.5-million from John Sperling, the 81-year-old founder of the for-profit University of Phoenix. In 1997 he set up Genetic Savings & Clone Inc. with the goal of one day charging pet owners to clone their animals. He has said he will not make the technology available until it is proven to be reliable.
Dr. Betsy Dresser, who leads a separate cat-cloning effort at the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans, hopes advances in domestic cat cloning will lead to cloning of endangered animals, like tigers. At her facility, efforts are underway to clone big cats and exotic species such as the Southeast Asian fishing cat. Her research team is actively trying to clone house cats but "we look at it as a tool for saving endangered species," she told The Wall Street Journal, which broke the cloned kitten story yesterday.
Many pet owners are already prepared for the cloning era. Lazaron Biotechnologies,
a private cloning firm in the U.S., has collected $700, plus $10 per month,
from several hundred pet owners to store cells from their cats and dogs
in liquid nitrogen.
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http://www.missyplicity.com/
The missyplicity project
Welcome to the home page for the Missyplicity Project, which aims to clone a dog for the first time in history - a specific dog named Missy. Missy is a beloved pet, getting on in years, whose wealthy owners wish to reproduce her - or at least create a genetic duplicate (which we all know is not the same thing).
The Missyplicity Project is funded and managed by Genetic Savings & Clone, a gene bank and cloning company with offices in College Station, Texas and Sausalito, California. Key portions of the Missyplicity research are performed by scientists based at Texas A&M University, also in College Station, Texas.
One very special part of the Missyplicity Project is Operation CopyCat,
a cat cloning research project which recently bore its first fruit, named
"CC."
...
The Missyplicity Project is being executed by a team of world-class
scientists and technicians headquartered at Texas A&M University (TAMU),
in College Station, Texas. Several senior scientists from other major universities
and institutions have also been recruited.
http://www.missyplicity.com/M2.Pages/M2.team.html
...
How Much Money Is This Costing?
We have awarded Texas A&M University a grant of $2.3 million to perform the cloning work. Counting overhead on our end, the total cost will be about $2.5 million if successful in the year 2000; more if it takes longer.
Is This A Joke?
We are quite serious and fully intend to see this project through to completion. Cloning a dog is largely a matter of the right talent - which we've assembled - combined with sufficient time and money ? both of which we have.
Will You Help Me Clone My Dog?
Only if your dog fits precisely into one of the categories described in the Goals section of our site. We are at least a year away from offering commercial canine cloning services, at which point we will be happy to help you clone your dog.
Will You Help Me Store My Animal's DNA For Future Cloning?
Yes. On February 16, 2000, we'll be launching a separate company to
perform gene banking for the general public, using the same technology
and expertise employed on the Missyplicity Project. We will perform gene
banking and DNA certification of tissue from any mammal, not just dogs.
Please don't write to request these services yet! Check back after our
launch date and follow the banner ad to the site of this new business.
http://www.missyplicity.com/M2.Pages/M2.faqs.html