“She may not look like much, but these are dramatic paws for science” says The Guardian, referring to Cc:, better known as Copy cat, the first ever cloned cat. Although the kitten was born on 22 December 2001, its existence was not made public until 15 February 2002. Cc:, who was cloned by nuclear transfer, “took the researchers 188 tries ... [t]hey got 82 embryos but only one cat got pregnant, with a single kitten” (CNN.com). Despite being called Cc:, “she is not an exact copy of her mother, Rainbow” says The Guardian, and goes on to explain that her unique coat colour markings are “determined by events in the womb rather than by genes”. The team of scientists at Genetic Savings and Clone, of College Station, Texas, and Sausalito, California, who are responsible for Cc:, say that they were “glad that the clone did not look like the original”, because they have “been trying to tell people that cloning is reproduction, not resurrection” (The New York Times).

Cloning of Cc: “was financed by 81-year-old John Sperling who owns ... Genetic Savings and Clone” (Daily Mail). The company is planning “to offer the technology to wealthy people seeking to replace their beloved pets” (Daily Mail) and is “already storing tissue from cats and dogs, for a fee” (The New York Times). Current predictions are that “cloned cats are likely to cost around £7,000” (Daily Mail), but dogs, which have yet to be cloned, would be more expensive. Although there are high hopes for commercial success of pet cloning, many ethicists have spoken out against it, questioning “its usefulness and the welfare of the clones” (The Independent).