Tom Brady reveals his dog was cloned from pet that died in 2023

When it comes to football, Tom Brady is the acknowledged GOAT. Now, the former NFL quarterback is making news with his dog.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion revealed on Tuesday that his dog Junie is a clone of another family pet, Lua, that died in late 2023.

Brady shared details of the cloning in a news release issued by Colossal Biosciences, which announced its acquisition of Viagen Pets and Equine. He also spoke with People about the cloning.

Viagen, a biotechnology company, owns the rights to the technology that was used to clone Dolly the sheep in 1996. The company also cloned Barbra Streisand’s dog, Samantha, who died in 2017; and Paris Hilton’s dog, Diamond Baby, into two puppies after her pet went missing in 2022.

Dallas-based Colossal is best known for its claim that it produced three dire wolf pups, an extinct species. The company said that by using gene editing it can modify elements of existing animals until their DNA mirrors the extinct species.

Several groups, including the International Union for Conservation of Nature, disputed the company’s claim.

The company, which said it aims to “fix” extinction, is reportedly valued at $10 billion. It is Colossal’s first major acquisition.

Brady, who is an investor in Colossal, said that he had worked with the company a “few years ago” and that the cloning process required a “simple blood draw” from Lua, an elderly pit bull mix, Lua, before she died.

“In a few short months, Colossal gave my family a second chance with a clone of our beloved dog,” Brady said in his statement.

“I love my animals. They mean the world to me and my family,” Brady told People. “A few years ago, I worked with Colossal and leveraged their non-invasive cloning technology through a simple blood draw of our family’s elderly dog before she passed.”

Colossal “gave my family a second chance with a clone of our beloved dog,” Brady added.

The former star for the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers said he was “excited how Colossal and Viagen’s tech together can help both families losing their beloved pets while helping to save endangered species.”

Brady and his former wife, Gisele Bündchen— who divorced in 2022 — adopted the pit bull mix during their marriage. Lua was a prominent member of the family through the years.

Experts said that cloning does not resurrect a personality, but only creates a genetic twin.

Samuel Gorovitz, a professor of philosophy at Syracuse University, said the biggest risk in animal cloning is “self-deception.”

“There’s no harm to the pet being cloned, nor is there initial harm to the resulting pet,” Gorovitz said. “But that new pet will not be the beloved prior pet. At best, it will be similar in important attributes.”

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