Whether it’s a cat, a dog or even the family horse, the death of a pet can trigger a powerful sense of grief.
But if you’ve got thousands of pounds to spare, advanced cloning technology could let you bring your animal ‘back from the dead’.
Gemini Genetics, a cloning company based in Shropshire, can take DNA from a deceased pet to create a genetically identical copy in the lab.
Over a quarter of a century since Dolly the sheep became the first cloned mammal, the firm now clones everything from sausage dogs to Suffolk Punch horses.
And the technology has proved popular with the wealthy and celebs including Barbra Streisand, who has cloned her beloved pooch Samantha twice.
The company uses somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), a technology widely applied in cloning animals
Pictured, Gem, a cloned horse who is prone to making ‘funny faces’ according to the company’s socials
In the company’s labs, DNA from the tissue sample is extracted, cultured, multiplied, and cryogenically stored in liquid nitrogen
According to The Mirror, the whole process costs anywhere between £38,000 and £59,000 ($50,000 and $80,000) and takes up to a year.
‘The first thing people tend to think of when they hear the word “cloning” is Dolly the sheep,’ lab manager Lucy Morgan said.
‘But the technology is now a million miles away from Dolly.
‘There is taboo around cloning as it’s still a relatively new science.
‘But in the same way our mobile phones have evolved in the past 20 years, the technology around cloning has, too.’
Gemini Genetics was established in 2019 and operates out of an ‘inconspicuous’ building at a farm just south of Whitchurch in Shropshire.
The company has an on-site cocker spaniel clone running around called Gem who started life as a piece of another dog’s ear tissue.
There’s also a cloned horse in the paddock of the same name who is prone to making ‘funny faces’, according to the company’s socials.
The company has an on-site cocker spaniel clone running around called Gem (pictured) who started life as a piece of another dog’s ear tissue
Gemini Genetics was established in 2019 and operates out of an ‘inconspicuous’ building at a Shropshire farm
Gemini Genetics, just south of Whitchurch, started as a firm specialising in artificial insemination to breed show horses
What is somatic cell nuclear transfer?
The British company says: ‘We offer a world-leading genetic preservation service, in association with leading pet cloning company, ViaGen Pets’
Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a technology applied in cloning.
The technique takes a somatic cell, such as a skin cell, and moves its DNA to an egg cell with its nucleus removed.
Somatic cells contain the genetic information on how an organism is built, but cannot give rise to new organisms, which is why the technique involves the DNA transfer to an egg cell.
If the transfer is successful, the process will lead to a complete reprogramming of the genetic material in the nucleus and enable the egg to start dividing and form a cloned embryo, which is provided with a healthy placenta to grow in.
Gemini Genetics’ process is similar to other widely-used cloning methods, known as known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).
Firstly, tissue samples are taken from the dead pet within five days of death – meaning bereaved owners have to act fast.
In the company’s labs, DNA from the tissue sample is extracted, cultured, multiplied, and cryogenically stored in liquid nitrogen.
But because cloning is banned under EU regulations, the samples then have to be shipped to a partner lab in Texas owned by ViaGen Pets, which offers the service to bereaved Americans.
At the new lab, the DNA is moved to a ‘donor’ egg cell that has had its nucleus (and therefore its genetic material) removed.
If the transfer is successful, the process will lead to a complete reprogramming of the genetic material in the nucleus and enable the egg to start dividing and form a cloned embryo.
This embryo is carried by a foster mother and brought to term for the whole gestational period, which for a horse is 11 to 12 months.
The animals are born and weaned in the US before being returned to the UK to the new owners.
But if you don’t quite have £38,000 to spare, the company lets interested parties complete the initial step for much less.
For £600, the pet DNA can be extracted and cryogenically preserved – allowing the pet to be preserved ‘until you are ready to decide if you want to bring them back’.
‘They will be as they were on the day they were frozen, whether that be in 10, 20, 30 or 40 years’ time when you come to defrost them,’ said Morgan.
Among the customers are Kelly Anderson, who owns a cat called Belle, cloned from the DNA of her late cat, Chai.
Gem the cocker spaniel (pictured) became the first cloned dog to climb on top of Mount Snowdon
Mrs Anderson spent $25,000 cloning her dead cat because she believed the pet was her soulmate.
‘A lot of people think I wanted to bring my cat back from the dead but that really was not the case at all – I just wanted to carry on a piece of my cat,’ she said.
‘Although ‘I’m not rich by any means – I’m a broke dog trainer – so I took out a loan.
‘I really wanted to be careful in the fact that I treated Belle as an individual and not as just a copy.’
Meanwhile, dog owners Ian Clague and partner Dominika Sojka are hoping to clone their husky chow pup Bijoux, who was found dead on a roadside in June.
‘It transformed the feeling from one of sadness to hope we may be able to restore her,’ Mr Clague, 62, told The Mirror.
Currently, Gemini Genetics only clones cats, dogs and horses and claims to be the only lab in Europe to do so.
Biologically her new cat Belle (left) is part of Chai (right), because they share the same DNA due to the cloning process
But on site are also tanks containing the DNA from zoo animals, including elephants rhinos and tiny tropical frogs.
Scientists worldwide are stockpiling DNA of species so that they could be brought back to life should a disastrous extinction event occur.
Since Dolly the sheep’s birth in 1996, mammals cloned by different teams include cows and mice in 1998, goats in 1999, pigs in 2000, cats and rabbits in 2002, rats and horses in 2003 and dogs in 2005.
But due to their genetic similarity to humans, the wider ambition among certain scientists has been to clone other primates, such as chimps and monkeys.
This could ultimately lead to the cloning of humans or human body parts, although many experts have raised ethical concerns surrounding this.
According to the RSPCA, there are still serious ethical and welfare concerns around cloning technology, regardless of the species.
Dolly the sheep (pictured) was born at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh in July 1996. She was created from a mammary cell taken from a six-year-old sheep
‘There is so much more to an animal than their DNA,’ a RSPCA spokesperson told MailOnline.
‘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.
‘Cloning animals requires procedures that cause pain and distress, with high failure and mortality rates and animals frequently suffer physical ailments such as tumours, pneumonia and abnormal growth patterns.
‘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.’
