By John Sudworth
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Scientists in South Korea say they have successfully completed the world's first commercial cloning of a pet dog.
Bernann McKinney, a US citizen, has stumped up $50,000 (Ј25,000) for five identical copies of Booger, her beloved pit bull terrier.
The puppy clones were unveiled at a press conference in the South Korean capital, Seoul, on Tuesday.
"Booger was my partner and my friend," Ms McKinney said, as she collected the five identical copies of her pet.
Scientists at Seoul National University created a number of embryos from preserved skin cells taken from Booger before he died.
The embryos were then implanted into two surrogate mother dogs and three months later the puppies were born.
It is not the first time that scientists have cloned a dog, but the process is notoriously difficult and the Korean team say this is the first commercial success.
The company which arranged the cloning, RNL Bio, says it is now open for future bookings.
As the technology improves, the price is expected to drop.
(BBC)
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