What's Next In Cloning?
Thursday, February 07, 2008 Filed in: Things
Scientists have the ability to clone mammals. It
started with sheep. Where will it end? What's next in
cloning?
Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of something, including mammals. The term comes from the Greek word for "twig, branch" and refers to the process of creating a new plant from a twig.
Modern science has been cloning for many years and only recently began to clone mammals. Cloning humans has been the stuff of science fiction for decades, so one would think that human clones would be the next big thing.
Let's see if I have a good idea of the direction of cloning so far. Sheep. Cows. Cats. Chimpanzees. Humans. We're up to cats already.
South Korean scientists have cloned a cat, which could be beneficial to help develop treatments for human genetic diseases. Of course, everything touched by modern science seems to have a side effect.
What's the side effect of a cloned cat? It glows in the dark.
In this case the cloned cat glows in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet beams. The cats have an altered fluoresence protein gene. Still, these are not cats that will walk across the yard at night and glow, but think of the possibilities.
Fish that glow in the dark would be easier to spot while fishing at night. Further cloning techniques could produce turkeys the size of cows. Or, cows the size of a truck.
What's next in cloning?
There seems to be some reluctance among humans to allow humans to clone other humans, but my guess is that someone is already working on a process to clone humans, either for the body parts, for soldiers, or for great holiday gift giving ideas.
Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of something, including mammals. The term comes from the Greek word for "twig, branch" and refers to the process of creating a new plant from a twig.
Modern science has been cloning for many years and only recently began to clone mammals. Cloning humans has been the stuff of science fiction for decades, so one would think that human clones would be the next big thing.
Let's see if I have a good idea of the direction of cloning so far. Sheep. Cows. Cats. Chimpanzees. Humans. We're up to cats already.
South Korean scientists have cloned a cat, which could be beneficial to help develop treatments for human genetic diseases. Of course, everything touched by modern science seems to have a side effect.
What's the side effect of a cloned cat? It glows in the dark.
In this case the cloned cat glows in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet beams. The cats have an altered fluoresence protein gene. Still, these are not cats that will walk across the yard at night and glow, but think of the possibilities.
Fish that glow in the dark would be easier to spot while fishing at night. Further cloning techniques could produce turkeys the size of cows. Or, cows the size of a truck.
What's next in cloning?
There seems to be some reluctance among humans to allow humans to clone other humans, but my guess is that someone is already working on a process to clone humans, either for the body parts, for soldiers, or for great holiday gift giving ideas.
