| ▲ | Ask HN: Have you ever cloned a cat? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 points by arthurcolle 3 hours ago | 33 comments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I see it'll cost about 60K Getting the genetic material seems trivial. Can anyone recommend a service? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | mkl 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Maybe get a new cat and donate $60k to an animal shelter? I guess the fact of such services existing and competing drives forward and funds genetics research, so from that point of view I'm glad they exist, but it seems like a strange way to spend so much money. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | Jordan-117 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I could maybe see the worth of this if it was a $60k medical bill to save a dying cat. But even a successful clone will only be physically identical, not behaviorally. And it feels like the resemblance would just magnify all the differences. I love cats and dogs dearly, so I don't say this lightly, but please just get a new cat (even the same breed!) and save the money for a worthier cause. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | Sharlin 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Anyone with a spare 60K who would use it to clone a cat rather than to improve the lifes of existing cats (donating to local shelters, TNR programs, etc) hardly deserves to have a cat. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | btheunissen 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I’ve been cloning and battling cats for the past week, it’s highly addictive: https://store.steampowered.com/app/686060/Mewgenics/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | gpt5 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Interestingly, the most cloned animal in the world are horses [1]. Given how popular (and expensive) it is for horses, it likely delivers on the results people are looking for. Note that current cloning techniques don't clone the mitochondria, which represents 1%-2% of the genome. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | xyzsparetimexyz 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I know everyone on this site is a Netflix SRE making $450k a year but are people really spending their money on cloning their pets?? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | KaiserPro 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
you wouldn't download a cat [00s heavy electric music intensifies] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | klez 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I once made a clone of cat(1), making sure not to include the -v option because it's considered harmful. Seriously, though, why are you asking? Was there some breakthrough in biology recently that made it feasible and available? Or are we actually talking about cat(1)? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | swiftcoder 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
> I see it'll cost about 60K It also only has a ~30% success rate, so it might be in the ballpark of $200K to get a living clone | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | ktpsns an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
cat & A UNIX fork is actually a clone of the process, in the first place. (SCNR) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | binaryturtle 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I have no idea what genetic material is, but cloning a `cat` is very easy, the instructions in German are very clear: "Nie Kaffee verwenden, sondern immer `tee`!" :) I'm also not sure why it costs `60K` for you? Only `14,320` here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | eimrine 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cloning vegetables is way simpler, I use to clone my potatoes every year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | linesofcode 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Give this a shot https://github.com/sharkdp/bat But in all seriousness I’m interested in knowing the answer to this too, just out of sheer curiosity. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | potatie 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If you do, would be interesting to see how much of the same behaviour is shown by the new cat so do share | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | bertylicious 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Yes, I have and no there aren't any services, because it's illegal almost everywhere. But if you give me the 60k, I'll write a wikihow for it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | Traubenfuchs 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Yes, they looked the same, but behaved completely differently… Wasted money. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | potatie 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If you do, would be interesting to see how much of the same behaviour is displayed by the new cat so do share | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| ▲ | deafpolygon 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Schrodinger’s cat? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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