A user in Breach Forum, a forum dedicated to criminal hacking, published a post selling what they claimed was the DNA sequence of far-right presidential candidate Javier Milei’s deceased dog, Conan. The post quickly went viral on X (formerly Twitter) and even got its own hashtag, #ConanLeaks.
“I’m selling all the client data with the FASTA (DNA Sequence) files for US$600,” the post read. “I’m only accepting MONERO.”
FASTA is a text-based format for representing DNA sequences and MONERO a cryptocurrency that uses a blockchain with privacy-enhancing technologies.
In 2017, Milei had his beloved English mastiff cloned by PerPETuate, a Massachusetts-based company that specializes in pet cloning — the result was five puppies genetically identical to Conan. The candidate had a very particular relationship with Conan and his “four-legged children” — his unauthorized biography, El Loco, claims he speaks to them and consults them in economic and political matters.
The post published on Tuesday claimed that the DNA sequence was due to a leak from PerPETuate’s database.
Juan González, author of El Loco, said “Conan’s DNA is being sold on the deep web. This multiverse is getting weirder every day.”
However, whatever they were selling wasn’t Conan’s genetic material, according to Ron Gillespie, PerPETuate’s founder and president.
“It is not only impossible but illustrates the ignorance of the claimant and any would-be buyer,” Gillespie told the Herald. “First, DNA is a physical material that can not be transferred electronically. Second, PerPETuate never sequenced Conan’s DNA. Third, the illustration [in the post] is not a DNA sequence.”
The far-right presidential candidate had not reacted publicly to the post at the time of writing.
In October, Gillespie spoke to the Herald and explained the cloning process. He claimed that he still had Conan’s genetic material, with Milei paying US$100 a year for the cryopreservation of more genetic copies. If he wanted more Conan clones, he could. But, sadly for fans of the far-right libertarian or the English Mastiff, Conan is not on the market.
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