NEW YORK– A domestic cat was cloned late last year in a Texas A&M University research program called CopyCat, which marked the first time a pet has been cloned, the Wall Street Journal reported. Texas A&M does not plan to make an official announcement until the cat is found to be healthy and confirmed to be genetically identical to the original. Scientists around the world have already cloned mice and various livestock, but the Texas cat would be the first cloned companion animal. Cloning research at the university has been funded with more than $3.5 million in investments from John Sperling, an 81-year-old financier who formed Genetic Savings & Clone Inc., based in College Station, Texas, to support the effort. In exchange for financing the Texas A&M project, the company has an option to exclusively license any pet-cloning technology developed by the school. Sperling plans to offer the technology first to wealthy individuals seeking to replace beloved pets, but he also envisions using it to replicate socially valuable animals, such as search-and-rescue dogs.

Pet owners are already paying at least one firm to store cells from their pet cats, dogs and llamas, should cloning in these species become a reality. The Humane Society of the United States opposes pet cloning, the Journal said, because of the danger of overpopulation.

Reuters