Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady has disclosed that his dog, Junie, is a clone of his family's late pit bull mix, Lua, created by Dallas-based biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences, in which Brady is an investor. The revelation came in a statement released through Colossal, which also announced its acquisition of Viagen Pets and Equine, a pet cloning firm.
Lua, adopted by Brady and his former wife Gisele Bündchen, died in December 2023. According to Colossal, a blood sample was taken before her death to create the clone. Brady said the company “gave my family a second chance with a clone of our beloved dog” and expressed excitement about the combined technologies helping pet owners and conservation efforts.
Viagen, now owned by Colossal, has previously cloned pets for celebrities including Barbra Streisand and Paris Hilton. The company holds technology licenses from the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, which cloned Dolly the Sheep in 1996. Cloning a dog through Viagen typically costs between $50,000 and $85,000.
Colossal, founded in 2021, is known for its “de-extinction” research, including projects to revive species such as the woolly mammoth and dodo bird. The company recently claimed to have produced three cloned dire wolf pups, a claim disputed by conservation groups. Financial details of the Viagen acquisition were not disclosed.
Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion and current Fox Sports broadcaster, stated that his family considers Junie “not a scientific experiment, but part of our family”.
