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Q Why is this groundbreaking? This is the first time a puppy has been born after being cloned from its dead parent. Another puppy is due on Tuesday from the same procedure. Q How did the scientists do it? Samples of DNA from a dead boxer called Dylan were stored with South Korean biotech firm Sooam.

The first samples failed. By the time the second biopsy arrived at the lab it was long past the usual cut off point for successful cloning. However the scientists at Sooam succeeded in pushing the boundaries of the technique.

Q Hasn’t a dog been cloned before?

Yes. Last year Rebecca Smith, 29, from west London won a An ultrasound of the puppy before its birth competition organised by Sooam to have her elderly dachshund Winnie cloned.

The puppy, named Mini Winnie, was born in March 2014. However Mini Winnie’s “clone mother” was still alive when the procedure took place.

Q What was the first animal to be cloned?

The first mammal to be cloned was Dolly the sheep, which was born in Edinburgh in 1996. Dogs were first cloned in South Korea in 2005, by Sooam Biotech. Since then the company has produced around 700 cloned dogs so far but this is the first time that puppies will have been born from DNA samples which have been so degraded.

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Q Is the technique controversial? Some animal welfare groups warn there are serious ethical and welfare concerns with cloning.

They say cloned animals frequently suffer physical ailments such as tumours, pneumonia and abnormal growth patterns.

There are no regulations on the cloning of pets, though the cloning of human beings is illegal, and in August the European parliament voted to outlaw the cloning of farm animals.