The Korean biotechnology company that took part in cloning the world's first dog reports that it has successfully produced four cloned pups from the cells of a famous cancer-sniffing dog named Marine.

With training, the company expects the four cloned canines to be able to sniff out cancer cells as well, according to a report in today's Korea Times.

"The four black retrievers were born on May 28,'' Ra Jeong-chan, president of RNL Bio said. They were named as Marine-R, Marine-N, Marine-L and Marine-S. The cloning team of RNL Bio, led by Seoul National University (SNU) professor Lee Byeong-chun, implanted cloned fetuses from Marine into a surrogate mother in April.

RNL Bio says the four retrievers will be sent to Japan after three months to join the training program for cancer detection. Each cloned dog will be priced at $480,000, the company said.

Research has shown some dogs have the ability to detect breast, prostate, lung and skin cancer at a treatable stage. The cancer cells give off a scent that is not present in healthy cells, which can be detected by dogs in breath or urine samples.

RNL Bio recently recreated seven drug-sniffing dogs last year at the request of the Korea Customs Service. The team also says it cloned the world's first commercial dog, ordered by a California woman who wanted her dead pitbull terrier cloned.

The Seoul National University team created the world's first cloned dog, an Afghan hound named Snuppy, who was cloned in 2005.

(Photo courtesy RNL Bio)