ViaGen Pets

Last updated

ViaGen Pets
Type Division
Founded2016;7 years ago (2016)
Headquarters,
United States
Parent TransOva Genetics

ViaGen Pets, based in Cedar Park, Texas, is a division of TransOva Genetics, that offers animal cloning services to pet owners. ViaGen Pets division was launched in 2016. [1]

Contents

ViaGen Pets offers cloning as well as DNA preservation services, sometimes called tissue or cell banking. [2]

Technology and patents

ViaGen's subsidiary, Start Licensing, owns a cloning patent which is licensed to their only competitor as of 2018, who also offers animal cloning services. [3]

The cloning process used by both ViaGen and their competitor is somatic cell nuclear transfer, the same as which was used for cloning Dolly the Sheep. [3]

History

ViaGen Pets began by offering cloning to the livestock and equine industry in 2003, [1] and later included cloning of cats and dogs in 2016. [4]

Related Research Articles

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Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, cloning is the process of creating cloned organisms (copies) of cells and of DNA fragments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolly (sheep)</span> First cloned mammal (1996–2003)

Dolly was a female Finn-Dorset sheep and the first mammal that was cloned from an adult somatic cell. She was cloned by associates of the Roslin Institute in Scotland, using the process of nuclear transfer from a cell taken from a mammary gland. Her cloning proved that a cloned organism could be produced from a mature cell from a specific body part. Contrary to popular belief, she was not the first animal to be cloned.

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References

  1. 1 2 Castillo, Michelle (March 8, 2018). "This woman paid $50,000 to clone her dead chihuahua...twice". CNBC. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  2. Claiborne, Casey (January 11, 2020). "Cedar Park company ViaGen cloning favorite pets". FOX 7 Austin. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Baron, Jessica. "If You Love Animals, Don't Clone Your Pet". Forbes. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  4. WTOC Staff. "Viagen Pets take animal cloning from research lab to marketplace". www.wtoc.com. Retrieved June 6, 2020.