And the Band Played On
Posted by Osagie Obasogie January 3, 2009
Biopolitical Times
In this time of economic recession, many companies selling luxury goods are having a hard time making the case to consumers that their services are still worthy of premium prices. In the recreational genetics industry, a number of outfits have tried slashing prices or repackaging their products for the holidays to stir up demand. But the pet cloning company BioArts has tried to maintain interests in its service – which can run tens of thousands of dollars per cloned animal – through working the media.
First, there was the global auctioning of five dog cloning procedures. This was followed by the Willy Wonkish Golden Clone Giveaway whereby a ticket to have one’s dog cloned for free was given to the person with the best 500 word essay.
Now, BioArts is using the one-year birthday of the world’s first cloned pet dog as a way to promote its service. (Click here and here for coverage). Although cloning seems to capture the imagination and many people would do anything to keep Fido around forever, BioArts is certainly facing an uphill battle: many people simply can’t afford pets during these times, let alone pay upwards of $50,000 to replicate them.
Nevertheless, the dangers that pet cloning portends for our human future remain quite real. The New York Times’ coverage of BioArts captures the sentiment behind pet cloning that, if applied to human reproductive cloning, may lead us back down a very dark path:
First, there was the global auctioning of five dog cloning procedures. This was followed by the Willy Wonkish Golden Clone Giveaway whereby a ticket to have one’s dog cloned for free was given to the person with the best 500 word essay.
Now, BioArts is using the one-year birthday of the world’s first cloned pet dog as a way to promote its service. (Click here and here for coverage). Although cloning seems to capture the imagination and many people would do anything to keep Fido around forever, BioArts is certainly facing an uphill battle: many people simply can’t afford pets during these times, let alone pay upwards of $50,000 to replicate them.
Nevertheless, the dangers that pet cloning portends for our human future remain quite real. The New York Times’ coverage of BioArts captures the sentiment behind pet cloning that, if applied to human reproductive cloning, may lead us back down a very dark path:
When Mr. Hawthorne recalls Missy [the “original” dog from which clones were made], he tends to wax eugenic. “She was an amazing dog: superior intellect, incredibly beautiful, obedient, a phenomenal temperament,” he said. “I especially loved her majestic plume of a tail.” And in the clones, as he put it matter-of-factly, “all those qualities are represented.”