Cloning brings big why?

    KRT, Akron, Ohio—Move over Dolly. Here comes CC.

   While the cute calico kitten born at Texas A&M is far from the second or even hundredth animal to be cloned, her arrival was greeted with nearly the same fanfare as was the cloned Scottish ewe.

   It’s fair to suggest that CC, short for Carbon Copy, is as much the offspring of America’s entrepreneurial spirit as she was created of cumulus cells and feline eggs.

   CC’s production was underwritten by Genetic Savings & Clone, a Texas firm founded by an Arizona millionaire seeking to clone his beloved dog, Missy.

   If one man was willing to form a company to duplicate his pet, others might be willing to part with cash to keep a reminder of Tabby or Rover near. CC is proof that it is possible. Of course, lots of cash will be needed, but Americans already shell out more than $12 billion a year for their pets. What’s $20,000 to $50,000 more?

   Scientists are excited about possibly farming pigs, goats and cattle for their organs and tissue, their milk with disease-fighting drugs and vaccines. Others say creating animals with life-saving potential avoids the ethical nightmares involved in human cloning. Or does it?

   It is hard to ignore groups that protested CC’s arrival by saying there are far too many cats produced the old-fashioned way to justify the cost of growing pets in laboratories. And anyone with an ounce of heart might have qualms about Muffy or Piglet being created at the behest, not of nature, but a purchase order. Cloning carries risks: Dolly was born after 277 tries, CC the only survivor from 87 embryos. Clones fall prey to some debilitating diseases.      

   Dolly’s arthritis is the result of premature aging.

   Humans have a great propensity to tinker. Cloning is just more evidence. But, particularly when it comes to cloning cats, it might be better to answer this question first: Why?