Discussion
I watched a couple of things over the weekend (Oblivion and some dinosaur documentary on National Geographic, I think) that got me thinking about cloning.
The documentary concluded by saying that any DNA found in dinosaur remains is likely not complete enough for us to recreate an actual dinosaur, which is fair enough, but haven't they found fully frozen / preserved woolly mammoth in the past?
I can't believe that, given they've cloned a sheep (albeit with some health complications), that they haven't had a go with the mammoth! How could you not?
Even if it's just a mammoth / elephant cross-breed type thing (you can probably tell I'm not a world leader in such matters).
Then there's human cloning... I know there are "rules" about such things but I really, really can't / don't believe that it hasn't happened somewhere at some point. Especially when you consider how many other things that there are "rules" about, that it later transpires were ignored as and when it suits any particular organisation / country etc.
Do you think we (humans...ones more clever than me) were / are happy to leave it at small mammals or is there a lot that we don't and possibly won't ever know about?
The documentary concluded by saying that any DNA found in dinosaur remains is likely not complete enough for us to recreate an actual dinosaur, which is fair enough, but haven't they found fully frozen / preserved woolly mammoth in the past?
I can't believe that, given they've cloned a sheep (albeit with some health complications), that they haven't had a go with the mammoth! How could you not?
Even if it's just a mammoth / elephant cross-breed type thing (you can probably tell I'm not a world leader in such matters).
Then there's human cloning... I know there are "rules" about such things but I really, really can't / don't believe that it hasn't happened somewhere at some point. Especially when you consider how many other things that there are "rules" about, that it later transpires were ignored as and when it suits any particular organisation / country etc.
Do you think we (humans...ones more clever than me) were / are happy to leave it at small mammals or is there a lot that we don't and possibly won't ever know about?
I don't get cloning.
The cloning I imagine really isn't anything like real world cloning.
The cloning I imagine is where you step into a machine, it scans you or whatever and out pops another you, fully formed, fully inteligent. Exactly the same as you (although under your complete control and willing to honor your every command).
cloning in the real world is s
t. You clone the embryo or whatever it's called so you effectively create a new living thing from the DNA of a current living thing. This embryo then grows and is born and then has to grow up and live its own life experiences and fight it's own wars... so really, it's very unlikely to become anything like the original DNA donor, apart from maybe in looks or features, and even then, I expect there would be differences.
Wheres my cloning machine, damnit!? How am I supposed to fight futuristic slow motion battles if I have to wait 30 years for my clones to grow up!?
The cloning I imagine really isn't anything like real world cloning.
The cloning I imagine is where you step into a machine, it scans you or whatever and out pops another you, fully formed, fully inteligent. Exactly the same as you (although under your complete control and willing to honor your every command).
cloning in the real world is s
t. You clone the embryo or whatever it's called so you effectively create a new living thing from the DNA of a current living thing. This embryo then grows and is born and then has to grow up and live its own life experiences and fight it's own wars... so really, it's very unlikely to become anything like the original DNA donor, apart from maybe in looks or features, and even then, I expect there would be differences.Wheres my cloning machine, damnit!? How am I supposed to fight futuristic slow motion battles if I have to wait 30 years for my clones to grow up!?
Edited by MysteryLemon on Tuesday 27th August 16:40
AnonSpoilSport said:
So all he needs to complete his experiment is a willing female and a country where human cloning isn't illegal? On that basis I really can't believe that it hasn't already been done.
MysteryLemon said:
I don't get cloning.
The cloning I imagine really isn't anything like real world cloning.
The cloning I imagine is where you step into a machine, it scans you or whatever and out pops another you, fully formed, fully inteligent. Exactly the same as you (although under your complete control and willing to honor your every command).
cloning in the real world is st. You clone the embryo or whatever it's called so you effectively create a new living thing from the DNA of a current living thing. This embryo then grows and is born and then has to grow up and live its own life experiences and fight it's own wars... so really, it's very unlikely to become anything like the original DNA donor, apart from maybe in looks or features, and even then, I expect there would be differences.
Wheres my cloning machine, damnit!?
Handy for spare parts though. The cloning I imagine really isn't anything like real world cloning.
The cloning I imagine is where you step into a machine, it scans you or whatever and out pops another you, fully formed, fully inteligent. Exactly the same as you (although under your complete control and willing to honor your every command).
cloning in the real world is s
t. You clone the embryo or whatever it's called so you effectively create a new living thing from the DNA of a current living thing. This embryo then grows and is born and then has to grow up and live its own life experiences and fight it's own wars... so really, it's very unlikely to become anything like the original DNA donor, apart from maybe in looks or features, and even then, I expect there would be differences.Wheres my cloning machine, damnit!?
You'd want one made of you when you were still in the womb, just so the parts weren't horribly small should you lose a leg or something before adulthood.
Maybe a few, just in case you don't learn from losing a leg the first time.
You can get some of the cost of them back by using them as slaves. Something simple like power generation on a tread mill.
The moral implications are pretty bad though, especially if you have one made every few years to make sure you always have a good donor for healthy hearts.
I watched a couple of things over the weekend (Oblivion and some dinosaur documentary on National Geographic, I think) that got me thinking about cloning.
The documentary concluded by saying that any DNA found in dinosaur remains is likely not complete enough for us to recreate an actual dinosaur, which is fair enough, but haven't they found fully frozen / preserved woolly mammoth in the past?
I can't believe that, given they've cloned a sheep (albeit with some health complications), that they haven't had a go with the mammoth! How could you not?
Even if it's just a mammoth / elephant cross-breed type thing (you can probably tell I'm not a world leader in such matters).
Then there's human cloning... I know there are "rules" about such things but I really, really can't / don't believe that it hasn't happened somewhere at some point. Especially when you consider how many other things that there are "rules" about, that it later transpires were ignored as and when it suits any particular organisation / country etc.
Do you think we (humans...ones more clever than me) were / are happy to leave it at small mammals or is there a lot that we don't and possibly won't ever know about?
Cloning's easy
The documentary concluded by saying that any DNA found in dinosaur remains is likely not complete enough for us to recreate an actual dinosaur, which is fair enough, but haven't they found fully frozen / preserved woolly mammoth in the past?
I can't believe that, given they've cloned a sheep (albeit with some health complications), that they haven't had a go with the mammoth! How could you not?
Even if it's just a mammoth / elephant cross-breed type thing (you can probably tell I'm not a world leader in such matters).
Then there's human cloning... I know there are "rules" about such things but I really, really can't / don't believe that it hasn't happened somewhere at some point. Especially when you consider how many other things that there are "rules" about, that it later transpires were ignored as and when it suits any particular organisation / country etc.
Do you think we (humans...ones more clever than me) were / are happy to leave it at small mammals or is there a lot that we don't and possibly won't ever know about?
Cloning's easy
Dolly the sheep, was inserted into a surrogate mother sheep, and then developed and grew just like any other animal. Unless you have a female mammoth hidden somewhere, then cloning a mammoth isn't possible.
At least for the time being anyway.
At least for the time being anyway.
Edited by TheTurbonator on Tuesday 27th August 17:10
TheTurbonator said:
Dolly the sheep, was inserted into a surrogate mother sheep, and then developed and grew just like any other animal. Unless you have a female mammoth hidden somewhere, then cloning a mammoth isn't possible.
Elephant? Deliver the mammoth a bit early if needed. Boom, species reborn.
Captain Muppet said:
TheTurbonator said:
Dolly the sheep, was inserted into a surrogate mother sheep, and then developed and grew just like any other animal. Unless you have a female mammoth hidden somewhere, then cloning a mammoth isn't possible.
Elephant? Deliver the mammoth a bit early if needed. Boom, species reborn.
Plus, even if there was a preserved mammoth, I still don't think that would be enough to clone another one. DNA is very complicated and contains a huge amount of information. The last time I knew, the only animal we had "mapped" the DNA of fully was a type of worm.
TheTurbonator said:
Not very ethical though is it.
Plus, even if there was a preserved mammoth, I still don't think that would be enough to clone another one. DNA is very complicated and contains a huge amount of information. The last time I knew, the only animal we had "mapped" the DNA of fully was a type of worm.
I thought they had mapped the genome sequence of many animals, humans included?Plus, even if there was a preserved mammoth, I still don't think that would be enough to clone another one. DNA is very complicated and contains a huge amount of information. The last time I knew, the only animal we had "mapped" the DNA of fully was a type of worm.
Captain Muppet said:
TheTurbonator said:
Dolly the sheep, was inserted into a surrogate mother sheep, and then developed and grew just like any other animal. Unless you have a female mammoth hidden somewhere, then cloning a mammoth isn't possible.
Elephant? Deliver the mammoth a bit early if needed. Boom, species reborn.
Engineer1 said:
Captain Muppet said:
TheTurbonator said:
Dolly the sheep, was inserted into a surrogate mother sheep, and then developed and grew just like any other animal. Unless you have a female mammoth hidden somewhere, then cloning a mammoth isn't possible.
Elephant? Deliver the mammoth a bit early if needed. Boom, species reborn.
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