Jurassic Park!
It's a sad day*. Scientists have failed to clone an extinct goat. The Big Idea was to bring the Pyrenean ibex back to life. Once a resident of the mountain ranges of the Iberian peninsula, it died out in 2000, but luckily they had one in the freezer called Celia and used skin cells taken from her ear to make a new one. Unfortunately, according to the story in today's Independent, "the newborn kid resulting from the cloning attempt died within minutes of birth as a result of breathing difficulties."Previous attempts to clone the ibex from skin cells stored in liquid nitrogen failed in 2003 with two pregnancies that ended prematurely during the first two months.But they're nothing if not tenacious, these cloning enthusiasts at the University of Zaragoza in northern Spain, and all is not lost: "The cloning and pregnancy using the egg cells of domestic goats, which also acted as surrogate mothers, demonstrated that it may one day be possible to bring back extinct species with the help of closely related animals which have not died out." Hooray!
Here comes the science bit: the latest attempt involved the creation of 439 ibex-goat hybrid cloned embryos made by inserting the cell nuclei of the ibex's skin cells into the egg cells of domestic goats which had their own cell nuclei removed. Of these cloned embryos, 57 were transferred into surrogate mothers and seven resulted in pregnancies, but only one goat gave birth and the newborn clone died after seven minutes as a result of lung deformities. (I bet they were on a giddy high for those seven minutes, sweating and cackling at the tops of their voices, shouting, "It's alive! It's a-live!" as lightning flashed overhead.)
I've scanned the article and it doesn't even say that the cloning experiment may be the first step towards curing all known diseases, as it usually does. They seem to be doing it for its own sake. At least they're honest.
And here's the best bit: "The failure of the experiment is a setback for scientists who believe it may be possible to use cloning technology to bring back more exotic species, such as the mammoth and the thylacine or Tasmanian tiger."
Paging Dr Hammond! Paging Dr Hammond! (I hope they kept a few of Michael Crichton's ear cells in the fridge.)
*It's a sad day because I have to read the Independent, as it appears to be the only newspaper they offer at the hotel I'm in.
posted by Andrew Collins @ 8:44 AM
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17 Comments:
See, I don't get that. If you bring back an extinct animal, particularly one that's become extinct as recently as that goat, surely it will fail to thrive again?
Cloning IS exciting from the point of view of medical advances, if you steer clear of the Hitler cloning/designer baby scaremongery imagined nonsense, but cloning animals as an end in itself seems a little pointless.
Is the rescuing of an extinct species not a good enough aim for you Collings? I am not sure if you think this is good or not, but I think if science is able to clone extinct species successfully - then that can only be a good thing.
Might be hope for all those squirrels you love.
Bring on the dinosaurs!
I can't help but feel that bringing species back to life that humans have rendered extinct is something that we should strive for. Animals that have become extinct without man's interaction however? The dinosaurs and the woolly mammoths should really be left in museums.
I hear that lung problems are a common ailment of cloned animals. I wonder why that is.
I know you have a certain unshakeable views on 'science' Andrew, but I also wonder exactly what the point of such an endeavor is really... although playing devil's advocate, isn't this kind of artificial resurrection only the logical conclusion of all mankind's conservation interventions?
oh and on the previous entry- Tristan you forgot one research council the ESRC (economic and social) I would echo what you and I think Mark said about the relationship between funder and research outcomes... for example the ESRC would be quite happy to fund research that undermined any aspect of recieved economic wisdom, if you could demonstrate that you had a rigorous and reliable method of so doing.
You in Cardiff today then by the way?? if I see you on the way to get my lunchtime sarnie I'll say hello...
There's a fairly funny novel that uses this premise - "Honk if you are Jesus" by Peter Goldsworthy - in which scientists start off cloning a dodo, then a Tasmanian tiger, and finally use DNA taken from various religious relics to secretly go for the big prize.
If they're going to do something good, what's wrong with a mermaid or a unicorn?
Or a glow-in-the-dark cockroach. Science people are so dull.
Andrew, if they don't figure out how to perfect these experiments now, how are they ever going to bring back Hitler?
Nick, I'm locked in a recording studio deep in the bowels of the magnificent Millennium Centre doing my audiobook, so unlikely to be passed on the way anywhere. I'm glad to be away from snowbound, crippled London though, which I understand has stopped working. A light dusting of icing sugar is all Cardiff has seen thus far. I haven't been here since before the Millennium and I am a bit gobsmacked by the changes down here by the quayside.
As for all this cloning nonsense, it interests me how people who don't believe in God seem so intent on becoming God.
Aah, welcome to lovely Cardiff - it's a tiptop place to be! You should take a wander round by the Norwegian Church, it's lovely.
Hope the audiobook is going well.
I laughed when I saw this. You just can't help yourself can you? All the abuse that is on its way to you now.... Best of luck Andrew.
Andrew Collins said...
"As for all this cloning nonsense, it interests me how people who don't believe in God seem so intent on becoming God."
Well, for one thing we don't know whether these particular scientists do or don't believe in god, though presumably they don't believe in creationism.
But the whole "playing god" thing I think is a bit of a red herring. Surely you can only "play god" if you believe that those things are particularly special, or god-like.
When I'm cooking up a nice bowl of spaghetti, then that is all I'm doing. To a believer of the Flying Spaghetti Monster I am actually attempting to play god, but that's not what I've set out to do. I've just set out to make some pasta. That's all.
I know that might come across as a bit of a flippant example, but I think it demonstrates the point well.
Hi Andrew
I like you and respect you, but this makes no sense!
If you don't believe in God, the idea of becoming God is completely meaningless.
Why is there some line that we should not cross?
If cloning is playing God, is vaccination? Are organ transplants? Is crop rotation?
(I'm slightly trepidatious about your answers to these)
Scientific discovery for its own sake is a good thing. Increasing our knowledge and our abilities is also a good thing.
Of course there are risks and consequences. But the good thing about scientists is that it's part of their job to think about them and take them into account.
Why should we impose barriers on our development? If we do so, how do we decide where to draw the line?
Sorry if this sounds confrontational! I'm just interested in your reasoning.
Am I alone in wishing scientists really were trying to make man-cow frankingsteins and raise goats from the dead?
I'd love to have a Pyrenean ibex for my herd.
Commiserations on having to read the Daily Mail: Liberal Edition. (Also, the print rubs off on your fingers in a horrendous fashion.)
Andrew
Admit it, you were in Cardiff for "Britain's got Talent" weren't you?
This "audio book" thing is just a cover...
What do you not particularly like about the Independent, Andrew?
I buy either the Guardian or the Independent most days and they honestly don't seem massively different to me. I enjoy both and find it difficult to decide which to buy on each separate day, often just deciding on most interesting headline or who the best columnists are on particular days.
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