COUPLE PAYS MILLIONS FOR DOG CLONE

August 25, 1998

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Reuters) - A rich couple found their ideal pet in a dog that is one of a kind. But they hope to change that.

A Texas professor said on Tuesday the anonymous pair had given his team a $2.2 million research grant to work on cloning Missy, the mixed-breed bitch they adopted from an animal shelter.

Mark Westhusin, professor of Veterinary Physiology at Texas A&M University, told Reuters that, despite its sentimental origin, the so-called "Missiplicity Project" was serious science.

"There are a number of objectives and one of them is to develop technology for cloning dogs," said Westhusin, who has previously worked on the genetic engineering and cloning of cattle.

He said the research on Missy could lead to a more reliable supply of dogs to guide the blind and assist in search and rescue missions.

Missy, the pet at the center of the high-tech project, has her own website at www.missyplicity.com, featuring several photos, a wagging-tail animated graphic and pages of stories from her "human mother" about the dog's endearing exploits.

The woman confesses to a "deep and permanent love" for Missy, who is a border collie with a bit of husky tossed in.

But the website gives no clues to the identity of the doting owners, except to describe them as wealthy Americans.

Lou Hawthorne, whose San Francisco-based start-up company Bio Arts and Research Corp (BARC) helped get the project underway, said Missy's owners wished to remain anonymous because they did not want a deluge of calls from the media. Also, they feared for Missy's safety.

"They are also very nervous about people stalking Missy. She's a very trusting dog," he said.

Hawthorne said the $2.2 million would fund two years of research, but the work was not expected to be completed by then.

"This project could be extended, going up as high as $5 million," Hawthorne said. "It is probably unlikely that we'll have a full litter of puppies after just two years."

He said the team working on the Missy project was "world class" and that the selection process for the scientists was "every bit as rigorous as one mounted by the National Institutes for Health."

Andrea Sloan Pink, a Los Angeles attorney doing the legal work on the Missy case, admitted she thought the project was odd when BARC first approached her, but now vouches for its authenticity.

"I laughed," Sloan Pink said of her initial reaction. "But they are on the up and up. I have every reason to believe that this project is going forward."

Westhusin was keen to dispel any suggestion that he and his team might be plotting to do away with the conventional method of animal and human reproduction.

"No, I don't think you have much to worry about. We're humans too ... I absolutely promise that's not happening here," he said.