Last week we were inundated with news about Barbra Streisand cloning her dog. We skimmed through some of those headline and moved on with our lives.
But then, on Monday, the pop singer posted a photo of her two clone dogs, Miss Violet and Miss Scarlett, in a pram visiting their creator, Samantha, reports TMZ.
Yes, she went there; Samantha, affectionately known as Sammie, was the original pup from which the other two were made.
Check the scene:
Hey clone mom!
The journey of the clones began last year when Streisand lost Samantha, so she decided to have her cloned.
But while Miss Scarlet and Miss Violet are exact genetic replicas of Sammie, they almost certainly won’t turn out to be identical, mini versions of Sammie, reports The Conversation:
The answer is that genes are not the whole story. Scientists have long been aware that environmental factors also play an important role in shaping an individual’s development and adult traits. Such developmental responses to environment are called plasticity.
You know, the whole nature versus nurture argument?
But it wasn’t really about the personality to begin with.
Speaking to the NY Times in an in-depth interview on the subject, Streisand explained that it had more to do with the pooch’s hair:
She’s a straight-haired Coton de Tulear, like most people want. My Sammie was curly haired and that’s why my husband initially picked her out for me as an anniversary present — she was the odd one, different, just like I felt as a little girl.
One of the reasons I chose cloning was because I couldn’t find another curly-haired Coton.
Oh dear.
At the end of the day, we’re not really here to judge, and if you feel Barbra’s decision speaks to you, you too can clone your dog. For R600k.
One more, for old time’s sake?
[source: tmz&nytimes&theconversation]
