Hey if you’ve seen the 6th day with Arnold, your gonna love this:
Los Angeles Times; Lisa Johnson’s cat was run over by a car. She buried it. Three days later after hearing about Richard Denniston and his efforts to clone a cat; She dug up her cat and took it to the vet. The vet removed some skin and sent it to Denniston, who induced the cells to multiply.
While no one has cloned a cat, three top-notch U.S. teams are racing for what is the next big trophy in the burgeoning field of cloning. Experts say the first one could be born this year, with the first cloned dog probably coming later.
Even before the first copied cat arrives, companies connected to each research team are running a test of what happens when cloning is offered as a consumer product.
In the four years since Dolly’s (the famous cloned sheep) birth, several companies have made a business of cloning cows for farmers, who want to copy the genes of their most productive animals to boost milk and meat yields. (hmmmmmm, so what exactly is in Grow!?)
Now cloning is on the verge of moving from the farm to the living room, and the ramifications could be large. If companies such as Denniston’s Lazaron BioTechnnologies LLC make people more comfortable with cloning they may also pave the way for its use in creating children.
“This will be a test bed for human cloning,” said Ronald M. Green, a Dartmouth College ethics professor. If proved safe in pets, “it will accustom us to cloning as a form of reproduction.”
In certain ways, I am for biotechnology. If genes can be manipulated before birth, imagine the suffering that could be avoided. Eliminating male pattern baldness is one. Breeding people that are more attractive, which, if you’ve lived on this earth over 30 years, we all know opens up tons of new opportunities socially and professionally (and of course, sexually). Mental retardation, dwarfism, depression, cancer (?), etc. are all afflictions that could be eliminated through biotechnological research. I’ve been re-thinking my views on this…
well im totally against cloning in general and cloning to “improve”. as a christian i feel its wrong to try to improve upon what God created already. He doesnt make mistakes and people are the way they are for a reason.
Well no I guess I wouldnt say they are, but whats wrong with braces or acne medication? Those things work so we can use them. I suppose Im more against cloning for the sake of cosmetic improvement, but I still dont agree with trying to make alterations at the gene level.
I’m for anything that will help those suffering. I think if you could clone a healthy liver and give it to someone who needs it. Same with a heart, etc. I don’t care if the guy smoked or drank. I don’t care if he uses this technology to live another 20 or more years and still abuse his body. That would be his choice. I don’t like it now, when someone gets a “real” not cloned organ and does this. There are too many out there who need it. That’s why I support it. Even though I grew up Catholic, I don’t think there is anything wrong with cloning to help out. God gave us the intelligence to figure this stuff out. I do draw the line on cloning a replacement pet or person. If you lose your pet, that is part of life, that is what makes us stronger. It builds our character. If we could save them through replacement parts (LOL…Pep Boys), then I’m for it. I just don’t think cloning your dead relative is a good thing.
This post also reminds me of a joke. Three scientists finally crack the genetic code. One of them goes to God and says, “We’ll we’ve done it. We’ve created man.” The second one gets a little cockier and says, “Yeah, we’ve even perfected man without all the diseases or deformities.” The third scientists is really fired up now and lets loose with, “In fact we don’t need you anymore, you may leave now.” God just smiles and says, “That is fine. But, how about a man making contest first?” The scientists smirk and say, “sure, why not, we’ll kick your ass.” God says, “But we’ll do this the old fashioned way.” He reaches down and grabs a handful of dirt. The scientists smile and say, “No problem” and reach down to get some dirt. God shakes his head and says, “uh, uh, get your own dirt.”
Back to Dolly , she isn’t even a perfect clone.The current cloning technique uses nuclear transfer ,which is fusing a donor cell with an egg stripped of its nuclear DNA and the end result is a clone with nulear DNA from the donor cell and 99.5% mitochondrial DNA from the egg.That difference could change the outcome a vast amount especially in humans.
Cloning has good and bad aspects, just like everything. People will be against it because they dont understand it and because they fear it. This seems to be the nature of things with all great advancements and change. Personally, I think it will lead to wars and such, but in the end it might serve as a way to breed out all the stupid people there are
Whatever the case is, it will be an exciting time to live.
