66 newyork| november11–24, 2019
EVERYONE WILL
OWN A GARLIC
SEP 04
The New
York Times
reports on
China’s first
duplicate
cat.
China’s first cloned cat—generated from the skin cells of a dead cat named Garlic, eggs harvested from other cats, and
$35,000 harvested from Garlic’s human owner—was born on July 21. The clone marked China’s first foray, via
biotechnology company Sinogene, into the business of duplicate kittens, though Sinogene and other biotech companies had
been cloning dogs for years. Still, the business is a bit out of reach and highly impersonal. So far. Soon, we’ll have the first
at-home pet-cloning kit, through which grieving pet owners can genetically duplicate their deceased furry loved ones in the
comfort of their own living rooms. ¶ While many will likely be happy enough cloning the family dog, others will find more
creative opportunities. Those in the market for a well-behaved or spectacularly good-looking dog might hunt dog parks,
taking a bit of fur while they deliver pets to the good boys. (Dog parks in wealthy neighborhoods will have signs explicitly
forbidding this practice.) Dog shows could have quite gruesome gene-bidding events; Westminster would be on the fence
but eventually allow the practice. Famous pets (like Garlic will become) will “live” forever, and if you like, you might buy
genetic information from the dogs featured in the 2021 Lassie reboot, which is reimagined as a dark, sexy drama. Vincent
Gallo, naturally, will offer a few strands of hair from his dog on his personal website for $1 million. —KELLY CONABOY
PHOTOGRAPH: STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES