Friday, October 22, 2004
Just because my interest is piqued.
The current method of cloning a mammal is to take an egg, remove its nucleus and insert the nucleus of a cell from another part of the body. Add chemicals and it starts dividing like a normal embryo. It generally takes about 275 tries for every success, and even then success is sometimes fleeting. Primates have never successfully been cloned and a leap in technology would be needed to make that happen, which is the focus of many scientists.
Notice, however, that scientists start with the egg, which is impossible for man to create from scratch. Notice they implant that egg into a mother to continue, since man is unable to replicate the environment of the womb.
Aside from moral questions, think of the science fiction stories that revolve around scientists fiddling with alien technology they know nothing about. Even easier, think of a three year old playing with a loaded gun.
The current method of cloning a mammal is to take an egg, remove its nucleus and insert the nucleus of a cell from another part of the body. Add chemicals and it starts dividing like a normal embryo. It generally takes about 275 tries for every success, and even then success is sometimes fleeting. Primates have never successfully been cloned and a leap in technology would be needed to make that happen, which is the focus of many scientists.
Notice, however, that scientists start with the egg, which is impossible for man to create from scratch. Notice they implant that egg into a mother to continue, since man is unable to replicate the environment of the womb.
Aside from moral questions, think of the science fiction stories that revolve around scientists fiddling with alien technology they know nothing about. Even easier, think of a three year old playing with a loaded gun.
