| Biswo |
Posted
on 08-Oct-00 10:23 PM
From abcnews.com (Skip if you have already read)
--------- ------------
N E W Y O R K, Oct. 8 - Every day,
approximately 100 living species
disappear, but a genetic
breakthrough announced today
may help change that.
The breakthrough is based on
research using Bessie, a pregnant
cow in Iowa. But Bessie is not
having a cow. She's expected to
deliver an Asian gaur - an
endangered ox-like animal
native to the jungle of India and
Burma (also known as
Myanmar).
"We have successfully cloned the world's
first endangered species using a new technology
that most scientists thought was impossible,"
says Dr. Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell
Technolgy.
Birthing a Gaur
Bessie's gaur, named "Noah" and due to be
born next month, was cloned by taking an egg
from a cow, removing its genetic material, and
replacing it with a single skin cell taken from a
dead gaur, creating an embryo identical to the
donor gaur.
"This shows that we are able to use cloning
by taking tissues from different animal species
to help us produce animals we like," says John
Rennie, editor in chief of Scientific American
magazine.
The endangered giant panda is a prime
target. Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling, giant
pandas who lived in Washington, D.C.'s
National Zoo, were notoriously reluctant
lovers, and never produced offspring that
survived more than a few days. Now scientists,
using frozen tissue from the dead pandas, hope
to do better.
Critics Say It's Unethical
Not everyone is so excited about cloning these
animals. Some worry that the new technology
could produce herds of animals that are
identical and lack genetic diversity, which is
crucial to their survival. Others fear that if
extinct animals are brought back and their
original habitat is gone, they will only be able
to survive in zoos.
"I think that's playing God, because we
haven't thought about what it really takes to
really be successful in keeping these animals
around - but we've got all the ego in the world
to try," says ethicist Glenn McGee.
This technology does have its limitations.
Though the movie Jurassic Park was based on
the notion that dinosaurs, extinct for millions
of years, could be cloned and brought back to
earth, scientists say it's impossible to clone
fossilized species.
"You can't clone from stone. You need
living tissue," Lanza says. "Besides, I don't
know what a surrogate mom would be for this
animal [a dinosaur]."
So, even in the brave new world of genetics,
some species will remain in museums and
movies - at least for now.
|
| Biswo |
Posted
on 09-Oct-00 12:26 AM
Just trying to write a preamble to the news:
I wonder if any of our readers haven't
seen Pandas, since Pandas are so cute and so
valuable.We have 2 Pandas here in Atlanta zoo,
and I know there are two Panda in Washington
zoo.(If some of you haven't noticed the long
strenuous battle that the zoo officials had
to do to secure the Pandas from China, then
you missed an interesting part of world
politics. Panda's natural habitat is Jungles
of Sichuan Province where they eat bomboos.
They are protected there with all possible
means of care, and anybody who wants to harm
them lands straightly in the jail for the
most of his life.A decision to donate Panda
to any zoo is to be confirmed by non other
than the president of the nation himself.
Last year,when the deal was on the final step
of the discussion, US bombed Chinese embassy
in Belgrade, and ,I have heard, China
threatened not to give the Pandas to US.So
much!!)
These Pandas are notoriously slow to mate.
Some of the aphrodosiacs and stimulants being
used to cure the frigidity/non-erectility of
the pairs includes the showing of
pornographic movies to them.But they are
still mating in the slow pace, making people
look for all the alternative means.
Like the journalist, my first thought also
was Panda. They number only about a thousand
in the world now.Panda are so cute, they need
to be more than that many..
|
