The Missyplicity Project is alive and well, even though Missy herself passed away in July, and funding for the effort to clone her has moved to the Sausilito, California-based company Genetic Savings & Clone (GSC). The millionaire founder of the University of Phoenix, John Sperling, announced earlier this month that he was terminating a $3.7 million partnership with Texas A&M's College of Veterinary Medicine, aimed at cloning Sperling's beloved Siberian husky mix, Missy.

Though the Texas A&M team produced the world's first cloned cat last year, and had achieved two dog pregnancies in the five years since the Missyplicity Project was announced, they had been unable to bring a dog clone to term.

Mark Westhusin told The Scientist his Texas A&M group will no longer pursue dog or cat cloning. "We are continuing our work with cloning. Most now is focused on basic science to understand why so many...

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