Cloned Security Dogs

In South Korea, security at airports has turned to cloned dogs for support. The dogs at such airports serve the demanding task of sniffing out drugs at customs checkpoints. An existing search dog was apparently a sniffing-champion, so much so that security wished for duplication to be possible. Their long shot wishes came true. Seven Labrador retrievers were genetically cloned from the original retriever. Each of the seven puppies was named “Toppy,” a name created by combining “tomorrow” and “puppy.”

The puppies are now in customs to sniff out drugs after passing the intense training program that lasts sixteen months. Naturally born dogs only have a thirty percent chance of passing all training for the task of sniffing out illegal substances.

Professor Lee Byeong-chun was leader of the team cloning these puppies. The first ever cloned dog was achieved in 2005 by the same team of scientists from Seoul National University.

Who knows what will be next? Cloning champion show dogs, race horses, or maybe spreading the cloned dog to police forces across the world?