Cloned Drug-Sniffing Dogs

(Seoul, Korea) Six Labrador Retriever puppies, cloned from an accomplished drug-sniffer named Chase, have started their training to become drug-sniffers for the Korean Customs Service. Although the puppies were carried by three different surrogate bitches, they look identical.


Called Toppies (for "tomorrow's puppy") and numbered to tell them apart, the dogs are expected to have the behavioral and genetic qualities to make good drug-sniffers after training.

The cloning project was carried out by a team of Seoul National University veterinarians led by Lee Byeong-chun -- a member of the disgraced cloning expert Hwang Woo-suk’s team, who was believed to have invented the method.

The cloning project was funded by a federal grant to the university. If the Korean Customs Service wants possession of the dogs, it will have to pay about $70,000 each.