NFL legend Tom Brady has revealed that his dog, Junie, is a clone of his late dog Lua.
Lua, who was owned by Brady and his ex-wife Gisele Bundchen, passed away in December 2023.
She was a pit bull mix - a crossbreed where one parent is a pitbull-type dog, with the other being a different breed of dog.
Now, Brady has revealed that he partnered with Colossal Biosciences - a company he has invested in - to clone Lua and create a new dog.
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The process was completed through the use of Lua's blood, which was drawn from her before her death.
Brady said (via People): "I love my animals. They mean the world to me and my family.
"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.
"[They] gave my family a second choice with a clone of our beloved dog."
According to the Daily Mirror, a British lab offers cloning treatment for a fee of between £38,000 and £59,000.
It is unknown as to whether Brady paid that much for the process, especially given he is an investor into the company.
There have long been concerns over cloning animals, with studies showing that the cloned pets have a higher risk of contracting diseases.
Professor David Coltman, who is the Chair of the Department of Biology at Western University, told the Daily Mail that the original pet and the cloned version will not act or even look the same due to environmental factors.
"It will experience a different environment and will be affected by whatever other biological impacts the cloning process has on its development," he said.
"A cloned pet will be genetically identical to its template, but that doesn't mean it will be the same in its appearance or behaviour."
Ryan Smart