Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady revealed that his dog, Junie, is a clone of his late pet, Lua, who passed away two years ago.
According to USA Today, the pit bull mix was shared by Brady with his ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen, and their children. The new dog was cloned using a blood sample collected before Lua's death.
The now-FOX broadcaster made the revelation on Tuesday and shared an announcement with Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas-based biotech company that claims they are "developing the science that will save us, our planet, and the species that inhabit it."
"I love my animals. They mean the world to me and my family," Brady said. "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."
The company, founded in 2021, also announced that it acquired another biotech company, Viagen Pets and Equine, and has cloned pets of numerous celebrities.
Brady expressed that Colossal "gave my family a second chance with a clone of our beloved dog" and said that he is "excited how Colossal and Viagen's tech together can help both families losing their beloved pets while helping to save endangered species."
Colossal said earlier this year that it successfully birthed three dire wolves, which have been extinct for more than 12,500 years.
The company said it used DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull to analyze the genome of the species, and then used CRISPR gene-editing technology to genetically modify cells from a living gray wolf.
