So how much do you love your cat? Pet cloning company ready to start up lab in Wisconsin

WAUNAKEE, Wis. -- David Cheng says his deceased cat Shadow waspart of his family -- "like my brother or my son."

After taking in the abandoned black-and-white domestic short-hairin graduate school, Cheng came to love his pet's penchant for comingon command, and scooping up instant noodles with its paws.

So when Shadow died in November after a yearlong fight withcancer, Cheng was saddened, but prepared. He spent $1,500 to bankaway two sets of his pet's DNA so he could one day create Shadow'sclone, Shadow 2.

"I'm not looking for a cat to behave exactly the same. As a matterof fact, it won't," said Cheng, a 36-year-old computer engineerliving on the East Coast. "It's more of, I save part of his memoryand make the grieving process a little bit easier."

1,000 have banked DNA

Cheng is among nearly 1,000 people who have banked their pets' DNAwith Genetic Savings and Clone Inc., which became the world's firstfirm to deliver a cloned cat to order in December and is nowestablishing operations in Wisconsin.

Cloning is a process in which an animal's genetic material can beharvested from cell tissue, implanted in an empty egg and insertedinto the womb of a surrogate animal that gives birth to its geneticclone.

Like many others, Cheng said he is waiting for the company to cutits prices, which were dropped in February to $32,000 from an initial$50,000.

While it is unclear what the demand for pet clones is, many saydecreasing the price will help spur an untapped market -- as long asthe company can survive legal and ethical challenges.

The company plans to ramp up production and cut costs at thelaboratory it plans to open in June in the Wisconsin village ofWaunakee. It is consolidating its cloning operations there, whilekeeping headquarters in Sausalito, Calif.

AP