Did you know that just because an animal is cloned, that doesn't mean they'll look identical to their donor?
In 2001, a cat by the name of Rainbow became the donor for the first successfully cloned pet, named CC (short for CopyCat or Carbon Copy).
However, when CC was born, scientists realized something--while she is the exact DNA copy of Rainbow, they don't look the same.
Rainbow is a calico tabby, while CC is a black tabby with white. This is because that cat coat colors are due to chromosomes.
In Rainbow, one X chromosome carries black white the other carries red. In some genes, the black chromosome was turned off, while in others the red was turned off. This led to her becoming a calico.
CC was taken and developed from a somatic cell that had the red gene turned off, meaning she developed as a black tabby.
White is determined by a different gene, unrelated to black and red.
CC was also the first cloned pet to have babies. She had four kittens in 2006, but one was stillborn. The rest are alright.
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