[Vision2020] Caturday (May 21, 2011)

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of the Houston Chronicle at:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/main/7568851.html

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First cloned cat turns 10

Whatever happened to CC, the world's first cloned cat? It seems like only
yesterday CC's baby pictures were being flashed around the world as Texas
A&M University researchers presented their scientific triumph to the
media.

Almost 10 years later CC, aka Copy Cat, is still in the College Station
area. She has a mate, Smokey, and they live with their three offspring in
a cat mansion built by Dr. Duane C. Kraemer, an A&M researcher who helped
bring CC into the world.

A framed photo of CC the kitten hangs on the wall of CC's two-story abode,
which has a screened front porch, air-conditioning, heating, plumbing,
catwalks, lofts and an enclosed outdoor play area.

Born into the spotlight, CC is accustomed to visitors. Her paramour,
Smokey, is less welcoming, but if you can find him, he will let you rub
his tummy. The youngsters, Tess and Tim, are curious and will move in to
butt their heads against your shoes. Their brother, Zip, lives up to his
name by taking off to find a quieter place when strangers are around.

CC and her family seem like perfectly normal cats, which disappoints many
guests hoping to see something more exotic, said Kraemer's wife, Shirley,
the head cat wrangler.

"I say, 'But we want it to be just like your house cat. We don't want an
extra foot or something,' " she said.

A&M's cat-cloning operation was an offshoot of the Missyplicity Project to
clone a dog named Missy with funding help from a company that wanted to
market pet cloning. When the dog-cloning project had little success,
researchers turned to cats.

About 80 cat embryos were produced, but only one developed into a
full-term pregnancy after being transferred to a surrogate mother.

Brown-and-white CC, born Dec. 22, 2001, does not look exactly like the
original calico donor, Rainbow, a domestic shorthair with white, brown and
orange coloring.

Duane Kraemer likes to say that CC, being a self-respecting Aggie cat,
didn't want to have anything to do with orange, so she didn't use the
orange gene. However, there is a scientific explanation involving
epigenetic reprogramming and color-coded X chromosomes to account for her
physical appearance.

After CC's birth, the pet-clone company and A&M ended their relationship,
partly because the university was uncomfortable marketing cloning as a
type of pet resurrection, according to "The Copied Cat" chapter of Dog,
Inc.: The Uncanny Inside Story of Cloning Man's Best Friend (Avery; $26).
The researchers were not trying to re-create the same animal, just one
with the same genetic makeup, according to John Woestendiek's new book
that looks at the scientists, pet owners and entrepreneurs who can become
entangled in cloning issues. Kraemer says there is no way to know whether
Rainbow, who was raised in a colony of cats used for research, and CC have
the same personalities.

Rainbow, who was adopted by an Austin family, died a couple of years ago
of cancer. CC's surrogate mother, Allie, also was taken in by a family but
was hit by a car and killed, Kraemer said.

CC spent her first months in an A&M lab. When she was released for
adoption, Shirley Kraemer was determined to bring her to their home.
"There were some graduate students that wanted the cat, but I insisted,"
she said.

Though the Kraemers have provided CC and her family with a fantastic
house, otherwise the cat does not get special treatment. CC eats cat food
from the grocery store and goes to a local veterinarian for regular
checkups.

When Smokey, another lab cat, was introduced to 4-year-old CC, she hissed
at him. However in September 2006, CC had a litter of four kittens. One
female kitten, although perfectly formed, was stillborn, Shirley Kraemer
said.

CC was allowed to reproduce once for science, Kraemer said. No
cloning-related health problems have been detected in the kittens, and CC
turned out to be a great mother cat. All five cats have now been spayed
and neutered.

As a feline celebrity, CC gets invitations to cat shows and some special
events on campus. But mostly she leads the life of a pampered pet, who
likes to lounge in the second-story window of her private residence
watching over the Kraemer house.

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CC lives with her mate and offspring in the cat mansion built for her by
Dr. Duane C. Kraemer, the researcher who helped bring her into the world.

http://www.chron.com/photos/2011/05/17/26364331/260xStory.jpg

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Catcha on the rebound, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Astoria, Oregon

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to
changeand the Realist adjusts his sails."

 - Unknown