In a UK laboratory dubbed ‘Europe’s only one of its kind’, bereaved pet owners are cloning their beloved animals post-mortem. Nestled within a farm in Shropshire, the unassuming structure is home to Gemini Genetics, where creatures from kittens to stallions are being copied.
The company, which embarked on its journey in 2019 and initially specialised in artificial insemination for show horses breeding, has since advanced to pet cloning. Following the successful replication of its first pet—a ginger Maine Coon cat—the demand for genetic duplicates has surged, with an annual count of nearly 1,000 animals cloned.
“The first thing people tend to think of when they hear the word ‘cloning’ is Dolly the sheep,” explained lab manager Lucy Morgan to The Mirror, alluding to the historical moment in genetics back in 1997. She added, “But the technology is now a million miles away from Dolly. The efficiency has come on leaps and bounds.”
Among the inhabitants of the facility is Gem, a friendly cocker spaniel clone who began her life derived from a fragment of another dog’s ear tissue. Despite only being a dog, Lucy observed Gem’s uncanny resemblance to her progenitor. “Her personality is slightly different, but she does the same curl to her lip I’ve noticed,” reports the Mirror.
The establishment is also the residence of Murka’s Gem, a white stallion providing breeding services via artificial insemination due to his original counterpart having been castrated. Pet owners can clone their beloved animals by taking tissue samples, which must be done within five days of the pet’s death. The DNA is then extracted, and the process comes with a price tag of approximately £600. The genetic material is cryogenically preserved at a staggering -196C.
When ready to proceed, samples are transferred to a lab in Texas as cloning cannot take place in the UK due to EU regulations; however, post-Brexit changes might allow it. Cloning costs between $50-80,000 (£38-59,000) and can take up to a year to complete, factoring in the 11-month gestation period for horses. The cloned animals are birthed and raised in the US before being sent back to the UK.
Celebrities such as Barbara Streisand, who revealed last year that she had her late dog Samantha cloned twice, and Simon Cowell, who earlier this summer expressed interest in the procedure, are among those captivated by the concept of cloning pets. “Losing a pet is a real grief,” remarked Lucy, highlighting the emotional pain of losing a cherished animal companion.
At Gemini Genetics, cloning is restricted to cats, dogs, and horses, and it stakes a claim as the only European lab that offers such services. Yet, they have gone a step further, housing DNA from a variety of zoo animals in tanks to safeguard these species against possible extinction with future advancements in technology.
Tullis Matson, who also spearheads the charity Nature’s Safe, regards it as an essential ‘doomsday’ measure to protect species for times ahead. His lab currently stores 279 different species’ DNA, which includes exotic animals like the sloth bear, southern white rhino, and sacred ibis—a bird once venerated in parts of Africa and the Middle East.
The story moves to dog owners Ian Clague and his partner Dominika Sojka, who are amidst the emotional journey of hoping to clone their dearly departed husky chow mix Bijoux. The dog was tragically discovered dead by the roadside in Bournemouth in June, believed to have been hit by a vehicle. Having escaped through a hole in their garden fence, Bijoux was rushed to a vet, but sadly, could not be saved.
Driven by their quest to keep a part of their pet alive, the couple found Gemini Genetics online just in time to preserve a tissue sample. A reflective Ian, aged 62, shared with The Mirror: “I think a lot of people are emotionally attached to their dogs and I’ve stories of people doing this then having 25-30 years with the same dog. Or two reincarnations, even.”
Dominika, a 34-year-old broker for a private jet firm, shared that the option of cloning had brought them a significant amount of optimism, saying: “Certainly for us it has given us a lot of hope. It transformed the feeling from one of sadness to hope we may be able to restore her.” She added, contemplating the what-ifs that come with a lost pet: “Because Bijoux was so young, you wonder what she would have been like getting older. You have all these questions.”
While the science behind cloning was initially discovered in 1958, it wasn’t until 1996 that scientists achieved success with Dolly the sheep—her genesis in an Edinburgh lab being publicly acknowledged in February, 1997. Prior to Dolly’s creation, many in the scientific community had assumed that cloning was off the table, presuming that differentiated cells like those in skin wouldn’t retain the necessary information to spawn an entirely new organism.
Yet, despite the advancements made since those early days, the ethical debate on cloning remains heated. Animal welfare organisations remain steadfast in their stance against it. They argue that it essentially reduces animals to mere commodities and poses a risk of inflicting pain and suffering that is avoidable.
Specific concerns were voiced by an RSPCA spokesperson, who said: “There is so much more to an animal than their DNA. A cloned animal is never going to be an exact copy of the original pet, either in looks or behaviour; and clones will have different life experiences, resulting in animals with different personalities.”
“We would recommend anyone looking for a new pet to become part of their family to adopt one of the thousands of animals in rescue centres looking for their forever home.”