PM — Would you clone your pets?

Happy long weekend, ladies and gentlemen. It’s the end of the workweek here in Omm El Donia as we kick off the final long weekend of the year. EnterpriseAM and EnterprisePM will be off until Sunday, but readers of Enterprise Climate will get their morning read tomorrow.

***
Take our EV survey: Are you an ex-petrolhead shopping around for your first electric vehicle? EV-curious and wondering what all the fuss is about? Or are you not ready to say goodbye to that sweet smell of benzene as you wait at the gas station?

We want to hear from you: We’re taking the pulse on how the nation feels about Egypt’s nascent EV transition. Take a few minutes to fill out our short survey. We’ll be back with the results in a couple of weeks.
***

THE BIG STORY TODAY

OIH is investing USD 200-300 mn in new hotels: Orascom Investment Holding (OIH) is planning to invest somewhere between USD 200-300 mn to set up four new hotels in Egypt, OIH CEO Naguib Sawiris said at an event today, according to Hapi Journal. The hotels include two in Sahel on the north coast, one in Cairo, and another near the Giza Pyramids, Sawiris said, without disclosing further details on the planned timeline for the hotels.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Leading the conversation in the international business press this afternoon: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s move to formalize the annexation of chunks of Ukrainian territory, despite Russian forces suffering defeats on the frontlines at the same time. Putin ratified a law earlier today to incorporate Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk into Russia, while Ukrainian forces have continued to make advancements and are recapturing several villages in these areas. The story is on the front pages of Reuters, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and CNBC.

---

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

• Activity in Egypt’s non-oil private sector contracted at the same pace in September as it did in August, according to S&P Global’s latest purchasing managers’ index.
• Venture capital firm Algebra Ventures’ second fund has reached a USD 100 mn first close, surpassing the USD 90 mn initially targeted.
• Solutions by STC has completed the acquisition of 88.2% of Giza Systems, with B Investments selling its 44.7% stake at an equity valuation of USD 119 mn.

Subscribe to Enterprise

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

UPCOMING NEWS TRIGGERS- Here are some data points and news triggers to be on the lookout for in this month:

• Foreign reserves: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) should be out with September’s foreign reserves figures later this week. Reserves remained flat at around USD 33.1 bn in August, having fallen 20% since March due to headwinds caused by the war in Ukraine and tightening financial conditions.
• Inflation to notch new highs? Analysts are expecting inflation to have continued rising in September due to the weakening EGP after reaching highs not seen since November 2018 in August. We’ll find out when Capmas and the CBE release the figures next week.

Fuel prices to rise this month? We’re expecting the government to hike fuel prices for the seventh consecutive quarter when the fuel pricing committee meets this month. Fuel prices have risen by as much as 28% over the past 18 months in response to heightened international oil prices, which surged earlier this year on the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect daytime highs of 28-32°C in the capital city, and night time lows of 19°C during the long weekend, our favorite weather app tells us.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2022 went to Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and K. Barry Sharpless “for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry,” according to a press release. It all began with Sharpless in the early 2000 when he first discovered the “reliable concept” of click chemistry — in which molecules react together by rapidly linking. Then, independently of one another, Meldal and Sharpless both presented what is now referred to as “the jewel of click chemistry,” a versatile chemical reaction that is both elegant and effective. With her mapping of obscure biomolecules on the plasma membrane of cells, Bertozzi successfully advanced click chemistry to be functional inside of living things.

---

US restricts China’s access to chips: The US is cracking down on exports of semiconductors, related machinery, and chips used for AI as it seeks to curb China’s semiconductor industry, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. The Biden administration is considering adding more Chinese tech companies to its banned list and rallying US allies to back the initiative, the WSJ reports. Advanced chips have increasingly become a tool of geopolitical power, playing a critical role in both military systems and the data-processing capacities that fuel our modern global economic system. If the US, Japan, South Korea and European countries band together to control exports, China’s chip industry would be dealt a blow as these countries hold a near-monopoly over the supply of key equipment and software needed to manufacture advanced chips.

Chinese tech giant Huawei is already working to reduce its reliance on the US for its production of semiconductors, Asia Times reports, raising concerns that America is on the verge of losing its competitive advantage. Technological workarounds are bridging the gap between China’s current capabilities including clever packaging and maximum use of DUV ArF immersion lithography. Chinese chipmaker SMIC recently shocked the US by revealing its production of 7-nm chips despite restricted access to the necessary manufacturing equipment.

---

The recipes you try out aren’t supposed to look as aesthetically pleasing as Instagrammable cookbooks would have you think: Cookbooks have long included illustrations but in today’s instagram era cookbooks have become increasingly visual, introducing us to aspirational lifestyles. And while they are impressive, these photos have also made cookbooks more intimidating and out of touch with the average reader’s life and approach to cooking, the Financial Times writes. Food writer Ruby Tandoh set out to remedy that with her anti-aspirational Cook As You Are (Serpent’s Tail), a book full of recipes that aren’t trying to sell readers a particular lifestyle but rather aims to support them in theirs and it’s been reaching people who don’t regularly buy cookbooks. The book is entirely absent of any photography (which is typically styled and shot with perfect lighting and angles) and includes illustrations instead, the FT reports. The illustrations depict a diverse range of people, including people with disabilities, making it more inclusive. “By photographing a cookbook in one kitchen, with one cook, I’d be capturing only one very narrow vision of what cooking looks like and who these recipes are for,” Tandoh says.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-
(all times CLT)

Netflix thriller Lou is a must-see: Directed by Anna Foester, the movie stars Allison Janney, Jurnee Smollett, Logan Marshall-Green, Ridley Bateman, and Matt Craven. The film follows a young girl who was abducted in the middle of a storm, and her mother teams up with her inscrutable neighbor to track down the kidnapper. It’s an emotional roller-coaster that keeps you on your toes throughout the plotline. Lou is a great movie to watch over the weekend as we slide into that cozy fall weather we’ve all been longing for.

⚽ Tonight in the UEFA Champions League: Real Madrid will host Shakhtar Donetsk at 9pm, the same time as Chelsea plays Milan and Manchester City plays Copenhagen. Also tonight: Sevilla v Borussia Dortmund, Juventus v Maccabi Haifa, and Benfica v Paris Saint-Germain, all at 9pm. At 6:45pm, Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb hit the field, while Leipzig v Celtic also begins at the same time.

The most important matches of the European League and the UEFA Europa Conference League tomorrow:

Omonia v Man United (6:45pm)

Monaco v Trabzonspor (6:45pm)

Anderlecht v West Ham (6:45pm)

Arsenal v Bodø/Glimt (9pm)

Roma v Real Betis (9pm)

Freiburg v Nantes (9pm)

On Saturday, the excitement of the European Leagues returns: As UEFA comes to an end and European clubs return to their local leagues, we recommend the following matches to the European football fans:

English Premier League: Manchester City, the defending champion, will play Southampton at 4pm to try to square its score with Arsenal. Three more matches will be played at the same time: Wolverhampton v Chelsea, Brentford v Newcastle, and Leicester City v Bournemouth. The day will conclude at 6:30pm with Brighton playing Tottenham.

You can now join our Enterprise League in Fantasy Premier League through this link or using the code 8o4sut.

In LaLiga, Real Madrid (which is neck-to-neck with Barcelona) will play Getafe at 9pm. In addition: Atletico Madrid v Girona (4:15pm) and Sevilla v Athletic Bilbao (6:30pm)

Milan and Juventus hit the field in Serie A on Saturday at 6pm. Sassuolo will play Inter Milan at 3pm.

The “Der Klassiker” match in the Bundesliga between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund also begins Saturday at 6:30pm. The showdown does not include a team that leads the competition eight weeks after its start, as the two teams are third and fourth, respectively two points behind Union Berlin and Freiburg, the first and second.

At 9pm, Reims will host Paris Saint-Germain, the French league leaders.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-
(all times CLT)

Sing your heart out at Karaoke Night at Room New Cairo tonight and tomorrow night at 8pm.

The Duna Dance Workshop is performing Picture-writer, a contemporary dance performance inspired by artist István Zoltánfy’s paintings, at Rawabet Art Studio tomorrow at 8pm.

It’s British bands tribute night at Cairo Jazz Club tomorrow at 9pm: First up, Radioactive Toy perform Porcupine Tree’s hits then Radiohead tribute band The Bends takes the stage.

Not musically blessed but want to give performing a go? Head to Open Mic Night at Room Art Space Garden City on Saturday at 8pm, where you can recite your poetry or take a swing at stand-up, in addition to musical performances.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

The history of Ireland and its struggle for independence, told through the stories of ordinary people: Trinity by Leon Uris details half a century of Irish history, covering historical events such as the Great Famine of the 1840s and the Easter Rising in 1916. The historical recounting focuses on the fictional Larkins and O’Neills families against the backdrop of the country’s story. Uris’ story captures Ireland’s struggle and conflicts between Catholics and Protestant Christians during this time. The book was initially released in 1976 and topped the New York best sellers list for 21 weeks, including 14 consecutive weeks in 1977.

The EGX30 rose 0.9% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 941.06 mn (2.5% below the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 16.2% YTD.

In the green: Qalaa Holding (+3.1%), CIB (+2.5%) and Palm Hills Development (+2.3%).

In the red: CIRA (-1.6.%), Orascom Construction (-1.2%) and Madinet Nasr Housing and Development (-1.1%).

You’ll never have to say goodbye to another pet again — if you’ve got enough dough to clone it. More and more people are cloning their pets through the same science that produced Dolly the sheep back in 1996. Since Dolly made history as the world’s first cloned mammal, several other species have been cloned, including horses, cats, and deer. Most recently, a cloned Arctic wolf was even born to a beagle in China.

A clone of your dog will set you back around USD 50k: A team of scientists in South Korea set out to clone a dog for the first time in 2002. Three years and more than 1k attempts later, Afghan hound Snuppy (Seoul National University puppy) was born to a yellow Labrador retriever surrogate mother. A couple of companies specializing in cloning pets have since emerged, such as ViaGen Pets in Texas, which charges USD 50k for dog cloning and USD 35k for cat cloning, according to their website.

Why do people do it? Often, cloning is an attempt to soften the grief that comes from losing a pet. The market isn’t restricted to the silly-rich — some people who can’t easily afford the cost of the procedure are saving up and selling their assets in order to pay for the process. One man sold a prized Andy Warhol he had bought years prior and another sold his pickup truck to help pay to clone their dogs.

Not the same pup: The clones are not replicas of old pets. They are more like an “identical twin — just born at a different time,” Melain Rodriguez, ViaGen’s client service manager, told the Washington Post.

Barbra Streisand was an early adopter: Streisand made two genetic replicas of her coton de tulear Samantha, who has since passed away, she told Variety. “They have different personalities,” Streisand says of the clone pair. “I’m waiting for them to get older so I can see if they have her (Samantha’s) brown eyes and seriousness.”

How it works: It’s easiest to clone a pet that’s still alive, using a tissue sample, according to Business Insider. Scientists then isolate the cells they need from the sample, put them in a growth medium, and a couple weeks later they have the cells they need to proceed. To create embryos, another dog has to “donate” an egg, which is “enucleated” (the nucleus is removed) to be replaced with the cloned dog’s DNA. The embryos are then implanted into another dog which serves as a surrogate mother — who does not have to be the same breed as the clone — and carries the litter of cloned puppies to term, according to the New York Times.

Some people get their pet’s DNA harvested and kept on ice so they can clone their beloved in the event of their death. Cells can be stored for several years before they’re cloned. “So you’ve got a puppy now that was from a dog that was alive 25 years ago,” Rodriguez told the Washington Post.

Prominent animal advocacy organizations have spoken out against animal cloning. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) argued that it subjects the animals used in the process to invasive procedures, according to a statement. The organization also says cloning is unnecessary given the current pet overpopulation problem, which results in mns of dogs being kept in shelters, many of whom face early death by euthanasia. HSUS also argues that the practice reinforces the notion that animals are manufactured commodities. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) points to the fact that the cloning process does not have a 100 percent success rate and not all embryos will be viable — meaning some animals are subjected to the process only for it to fail and have to be repeated again. Several surrogate and egg donor animals could be used to create one pet for a paying customer.

There are also thorny issues when it comes to selecting our preferred animal characteristics: Awardwinning show dogs or champion racehorses could be cloned for competition purposes, raising questions of fairness and how cloning differs ethically from breeding.

** HOW DO YOU FEEL about the prospect of cloning your pets? Do you think it’s creepy? Would you want to clone your puppy? Drop us a line with your thoughts at editorial@enterprise.press.