First cloned cat ‘like any other’ 15 years later

At the end of a long gravel road in East College Station, the world's first cloned cat -- now 15 years old -- lives in what longtime Texas A&M Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science researcher Duane Kraemer describes affectionately as a "kitty barn." CC, also known as Copy Cat, was born in December 2001, the result of the 87th attempt at cloning a cat by Kraemer's lab at Texas A&M after several years of trying.Kraemer, who recently retired from the university, said the success was simply the product of his team's work in pushing the boundaries of what is possible to accomplish. Kraemer said CC even had a litter of her own years ago with a male cat named Smokey -- a test to see if she was genetically capable of reproduction. Today, she lives in a small house built by Kraemer and located in his back yard alongside Smokey and her three offspring.