Mad supply-side scientists wanting to clone Ronald Reagan will have to get their source DNA somewhere else, as an auction house selling a sample of the Gipper's blood has decided to cancel the sale. But not before bidding hit $30,086 in an online auction through the British Channel Island-based PFC Auctions. Now the blood will be donated to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation after the anonymous consignor "realized what an important artifact this was."

The creepy thing about this whole affair was the fact that the blood had been collected by someone at the George Washington University Hospital, where Reagan went after John Hinckley Jr. shot him in a 1981 assassination attempt. That also creeped out the Reagan foundation: "While we contend that the removal of the vial from the hospital laboratory and the US auction sale in February 2012 were not legal acts in our opinion, we are grateful to the current custodian of the vial for this generous donation to the Foundation Ensuring President Reagan’s blood remains out of public hands," foundation director John Heubusch said in a PFC statement. If you ever want to see it, they're going to put the blood on display for all to admire. And that's not weird.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at amartin at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Adam Martin