Milly is the most cloned dog. This made him hold the world record for the second time. The first record he got as the smallest dog in the world.
Scientists 'created' 49 genetically identical dogs based on the genes of this tiny Chihuahua breed. Miracle Milly, as scientists call it, was six years old when it was replicated by scientists in 2018.
This replication aims to explore the genetic code behind his tiny stature. As the name implies, Miracle which means miracle, Milly's development is amazing.
Imagine, Milly weighed less than an ounce at birth. So small, he could curl up in a teaspoon. The vets at the time speculated he would not last long.
In fact, this little dog works wonders. He continues to grow thanks to the care of Vanessa Semler, a woman from Kissimmee, Florida, United States. Vanessa painstakingly feeds the pup every two hours using an eye dropper.
In 2012, Miracle Milly was awarded the Guinness World Record for being the smallest surviving dog. At that time he was less than 10 cm tall, and weighed the equivalent of an apple.
Researchers at the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation in Seoul, South Korea then tried to contact Vanesa to ask permission to clone the dog.
To do this, scientists extract cells from Milly and use the nucleus, which holds her genetic information, which are then transplanted into a donor egg.
From there, the developing embryos are placed in a surrogate mother who will deliver the puppies. August 2017, Milly's first colonization result was born.
There are 12 dogs living with Vanessa's family. They named Milly's clones with funny names that started with the letter M, namely: Molly, Mally, Melly, Molly, Mumu, Mila, Mary, Mimi, Moni, Mini, Mela, and Mulan.
According to the owner, the puppies are exactly the same in personality and appearance, but some of them are slightly bigger than Milly.
In June 2018, Vanesa received an award on behalf of her dogs, as the most cloned dog according to The Academy Of World Records.
"Milly became the world record holder for the smallest dog in 2012, then in 2018 she became the most cloned dog, more than 49 clones," said Vanesa at the time, quoted by the Daily Mail.
"Initially, they (researchers) wanted to clone ten 'Milly'. Nine for research and one for us. But they decided to clone more," he added.