You again
Before I get to the point of my next post, I’d like to ask a simple question:
What do you think cloning is?
Give me either your simple understanding of it or a technical definition.
Jun.05, 2007 9:56 am |
Stem cell |
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Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Duplication
Asexual propagation.
Recent attempts at animal cloning have been described as
My understanding is similar to Cameron’s.
My understanding of cloning is that you are genetically copying a life form, so the end result is a life form identical to the original. My very non-technical answer : ).
I concur.
With all of the above!
I don’t agree with cloning…just the above definitions…
Why? Are we wrong?
Cloning: what Cameron will be doing with Human beings in 10-15 years….
joke..
Cloning: to produce a exact copy or imitation of.
Isn’t satan the father of copying and imitating?
Unable to “Create” anything, only able to mimic?
to produce a exact copy of.
Cameron,
In honor of your recent civility I refuse to stoop to insulting you, which is why I’m not going to say:
Cloning: what Cameron will be doing with Human beings in 10-15 years….
It beats what’s he’s been doing for the last fifteen years!
Ah, My self control amazes me…
Cloning is the process of replicating genomic material from one organism for the purpose of reproducing that organism in whole or in part. Cloning may occur naturally, such as with identical twins or plant propagation (MK, did you know that bananas are sterile?), or may be the result of laboratorial research.
I actually have a question about cloning. Someone compared it to identical twins, so … if it were a human being cloned, would they have identical finger prints or would the prints be different, as they are with twins?
Anyone?
I think it would be really cool to raise a clone of myself… watching how his develoment would differ and what ways he would be the same.
It would be interesting, wouldn’t it?
I believe fingerprinting involves womb positioning in some way. Thus, a clone would not have identical fingerprints to it’s er..parent clone?
Okay. Thanks, Lauren.
Leah –
I was watching Cold Case Files (I think that is the right one, I was addicted to several at the same time) and they had one where they thought they had the criminal, but come to find out his twin brothers fingerprints were so similar that it was almost impossible to tell the difference between the two. It was really interesting.
I have no answer for the question. I can only guess that Samantha T’s and Camerons sound the most logical.
Ditto Samantha; her definition seems to be the best.
Cameron,
It would be interesting to see if he turned out pro-life…
Cameron, is anyone in your family pro life?
Cloning: Something that I want to do to myself so I have someone to talk to when I’m bored, and someone to plot with when I take over the world!!!!
::insert maniacal laughter::
Ok, I’m done.
Cloning isn’t quite duplication. Mitochondrial DNA of a clone depends on the donor egg. Only nuclear DNA is identical for a clone.
If you wanted a clone of yourself that’s truly identical, you’d have to get the donor egg from your one of your female progenitors, a sister, or even your own daughter (I think). If an egg cell isn’t necessary (cloning’s been done without one), you might be able to provide your own.
Something like that.
Mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the mother of a child. Therefore, Rasqual, only women would be able to use an egg cell from their own daughters, not men. Men would have to procure egg cells from their mothers or a sister. Women could just use their own. Interesting, eh?
I’ve been working on cloning a gene and then deleting said gene out of a bacteria… :)
Rae, did you ever get to make bacteria glow? I did something where I inserted the Lux gene from a fish into the plasmids of E. coli….that was more fun than a barrel full of monkeys. Lol.
@Lyssie: No, I haven’t gotten to do anything quite that fun. I am currently working with a bacteria known as Vibrio parahaemolyticus which my lab found to respire using iron oxide, and my boss found that it has a gene sequence similar to the proteins found in Shewanella (another bacteria capable of metal respiration) which is the bacteria my lab actually studies. So, in short, we are trying to delete the gene that we think allows Vibrio to respire using metals. :)
“Cameron, is anyone in your family pro life?”
I don’t know.
Definitely not my mom. Maybe my dad, possible one or two brothers. Abortion is not someone else’s business and we have better things to talk about when we get together.
My dad does try to pick my brain about evolution though, seeing how i’m a biologist and he doesn’t believe in it. When I ask him questions about his odd questions I find that it’s not really evolution that’s troubling him. He’s worried about what’s going to happen after he dies. No matter how much we talk about it though, I can’t seem to really put my finger on why his afterlife notions and evolution are mutually exclusive. He doesn’t seem to really know, and he doesn’t believe in an inerrant bible. I speculate it’s because it challenges his identity. If evolution, then we’re nothing special with respect to other animals, and other animals don’t go to heaven supposedly. He’s certain we’re special, or at least he’s not letting on about any doubts or answering any further questions.
I know lots of families that don’t see eye to eye on abortion. Thank you for answering.
My family really never talks about abortion as I don’t have a politically and socially aware family. My parents are of the opinion, “If it doesn’t directly affect us, we’re not going to comment, and even then we probably won’t have an opinion one way or the other.” The fact that I go on these blogs and forums to debate just boggles their minds (especially my younger brother, he absolutely HATES that I go on here to debate stuff, he’s always like, “What’s the point!?”).
Though I did ask my parents when I was in 8th grade after religion class on the 25th anniversary of Roe v. Wade what their opinion was and I think it was along the lines of, “We don’t like it, but we would prefer people didn’t get them, but we would have no problems with abortions if the mother’s health is at risk, rape and incest…yeah…” That was all I got out of them. Of course I was only 14 at the time and I myself didn’t quite have an opinion yet (other then that I thought comparing abortion to the Holocaust was just stupid).
*shrugs*
My family just doesn’t talk about this kind of stuff. Ever.
It’s a bad idea to talk politics and the like with my family, at least when you’re the black sheep.
My mother’s pro-choice, but the rest of my family probably isn’t. Well, maybe one of my uncles, but aside from him…my family’s full of conservative Republicans.
My family talks about everything. My parents are pro-choice but do not like gay marriage . With that said they have no problem with a civil union, where we disagree. I would like to see gay marriage legal (besides Mass.), and we seem to debate alot about that. My parents like the fact that I think for myself, and dont let them or anyone else influence me. They are conservitives, but not hard core. They kinda take the stance if it doesnt influence me, then I am not going to comment, but I get them to talk to me :-)..
I think cloing is production of a human being using the DNA strands of an other?
I’m an engineer, what do I know?
I would bet that Cameron is right though.
To clone a gene means to make and isolate DNA that includes only that gene and no other genes. These days it’s usually done by means of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
SoMG: Yup, that’s right…I was talkin’ ’bout gene deletion, not so much gene cloning (though someday I’ll be doin’ that…). PCR is such a pain in the arse…and I’m still deathly afraid of the EtBr.
Lauren,
Its good to see you on the site. I have been concerned as to how you are doing. You remain in the thoughts of all of us in this difficult time.
EtBr is not even considered toxic or regulated as a teratogen. Don’t worry about it.
Did you know strychnine was a recreational drug in HG Wells’ England?
Did you know there used to be a taste test for lead?
Yes PCR is a drag but there’s something satisfying about setting it up at the end of the day and letting it run overnight.
Prayer for the closing of the abortion mill:
Father, all life is in Your care.
You have entrusted us to one another,
that we may show our brothers and sisters
the same love You have for us.
We pray, then, for the least among us,
the children in the womb.
Protect them from the violence of abortion.
Save them from death.
Give new hope to their parents,
that they may turn away from the
desperate act of abortion.
Grant conversion to the abortionist and to the staff.
Show us how we are to respond to the
bloodshed in our midst,
And lead us to the day when this place of death
Will be transformed into a haven of life.
Guard us with your joy and your peace,
For in You, life is victorious.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
SoMG: Unfortunately the PCR reactions I do aren’t long enough to go overnight, so I do them when I get to work in the morning and then run the gels on them in the afternoon.
I thought EtBr was a mutagen or something…there are warnings all over my lab like “No Touches teh EtBr without gloves or you’ll DIEEE!”
OOer…learned about strychnine in organic chemistry…not pleasant. Ouch…
With a goo-goo-goo
And a gah-gah-gah.
Hey Rae, you wanna help me with Chem this semester? P L E A S E ? ?
Midnite: Which chem? And where are you–what city?
CH 105 – Intro to Chemistry I guess @ UAB (Birmingham, AL)
@midnite: It’s been awhile since I took intro chemistry because I took it Advanced Placement as a Junior in high school and since I passed the exam, I didn’t have to take intro chem once I got to college…but I can help you as much as I can!
Anything woulde be appreciated, I took “Gneral Chem” in high school (aka, stupid people chem) and barely passed it…
“It’s been awhile since I took intro chemistry because I took it Advanced Placement as a Junior in high school”
no advanced placement for me….It was 20 years ago, but I think took the easier courses. Speak up in class Midnite, if you don’t understand something, get the goofy teacher to answer your questions…
*General
Listening to all these scientific minds! I can’t even do basic arithmetic, seriously. I have to write everything out. And wouldn’t you know I would go into a profession where I had to study chemistry and other sciences.
hmmm, cant do that Jasper, I have anxiety (pretty bad) about being in large groups (especially speaking) of people I dont know. Not gonna happen in a class of 300.
“hmmm, cant do that Jasper, I have anxiety (pretty bad) about being in large groups (especially speaking) of people I dont know.”
many people do Midnite….just say the hell with them, I’m asking anyways….
wow 300 kids in a class! that really silly they put that many people in one class. they have to get more teachers, especially when your paying for these classes…
@Mary: My math skills are terrible. The Chinese guy and the Indian guy in my lab always teased me about the fact I couldn’t do simple math in my head… I either had to write it out or get a calculator. :-p
@Jasper: Advanced Placement or AP classes are ones they let you take for the year and they are supposedly at college level, and you take a big exam at the end of the year and if you pass it (on a scale of 1-5 with everything 3 and up being passing) you may earn college credit. ‘Tis awesome and it has saved my dad tons of $$$ with tuition.
thats great Rae, sounds like your pretty bright. I’m don’t think I’m that smart, I have many nieces and newphews in college/high school or just graduating, my nephew who just finished college, got an 800 on his math sat score… But, ask him to write an essay on somthing and I’ll bet he’s not so good at it….
@Jasper: Oh I hated the SAT…I liked the ACT so much better (I have no idea why I took both, I only needed the ACT as I was only applying to mid-west schools). I only took those classes so that I could get the heck out of college sooner as I’m really, really tired of school. So fortunately I managed to finish high school with just over 60 college credits, and I am now considered a senior in college, even though I’m only going into my second year. Unfortunately I still have an extra year to go because I didn’t get my physics and calculus done in high school, had I done that, I would be done next year. Ah vell…two years is better than three more! :)
So in short: All people on here that either have kids in school or will have kids in school, when they get to high school try to get them to take as many AP classes as possible…it gets them out of the pointless “Liberal Arts Education” courses and they can start their major sooner and therefore graduate sooner…it’s vunderbar.
Thanks great you’ll be graduating at an young age…I didn’t find physics & calculus 1,2 that bad at all. Calc 3 was a little tricky… of course, it kind of depends what kind of teacher you have too..I had some good ones that make the tough courses look easy.. and some bad teachers who couldn’t explain their way out of a paper bag…
Oh I hated calculus with a passion. I took calc I this year and fortunately they changed the major requirements for microbiology so now I just need calc I and a stats class instead of calc I and II. My teacher was terrible, he didn’t speak english very well and he had a really thick accent and spoke too softly. My TA was pretty good though, a bit easier to understand but I was always way too intimidated to ask questions even though I know I should have.
All,
this is interesting to Catholics and other Christians; tonight in Manchester, NH (about 20 minutes northwest of where I live) the Republican debate was on CNN. Rudy Guliani was the trying to reconcile his poistion on abortion with the Pope’s, and just as he was explaining it, lightning struck several times…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibqwKb4cCsg
Oh they have enought teachers to teach it Jasper. But why afford us non Chem majors the luxuary of a small class? They dont want to spend the extra time on us b/c we’re not going to major in their stupid class. Its just selfish if you ask me… All of my math classes had 250+ students in them.
@Midnite: I hear that up at here at the U of MN, they have upwards to 1000 students in the intro psych classes.
Yeah the 100 and 200 level Psych classes are that way @ UAB too, but now that I am in 300+ level classes there is about 20-30 students in them. It’s nicer. You’ve got a name and not a damn number.
@Rae and Midnite:
I wish that I could have done that. =( I took tons of junior college classes and APs when I was in high school. It did take off a couple classes on my list, but not that many…maybe four or so.
If you’re a pre-medical student, AP credits count for nothing since most medical schools don’t take AP credit. Which means I had to retake Chemistry, Calculus, Physics, English, and Biology. =*(
Blah, even more reason not to bother going to medical school and to instead go for my Master’s in Public Health.
well medical school is in the plan, but no MD, I shall have a PhD or a PyD (I thinks thats the abbreviation for it). Its a new doctorate degree for Psych students..
Rae, if you are serious about microbiology you need Calc I AND CalcII AND you will encounter statistics many times and so you need it too.
All you silly math and science people, English is the way to go! Only one lab science class and one math class required, mwahaha. Normally I’d have two of the former, but thanks to AP credits, that’s taken care of.
Lyssie:
“Rasqual, only women would be able to use an egg cell from their own daughters, not men. Men would have to procure egg cells from their mothers or a sister. Women could just use their own.”
I have no idea what you mean by “would be able” or “would have to.” In order to what? Cloning doesn’t require that. I miss what you mean here.
@SoMG: I’m not into “serious” microbiology. I am taking a statistics course, but not Calc II as that is no longer required for my major. I am planning on either doing med school (which is looking less and less likely) and am probably gonna go for a master’s in public health.
I don’t recommend med school.
Not unless you have something you want to do for which you absolutely need the degree.
I wish I’d been able the AP test for Biology in high school, I really, really do.
And I prefer larger classes, honestly. It’s easier for me to hide and the teacher doesn’t notice if you skip a day or two.
rasqual,
Lyssie is saying that men would need to use an egg from their mothers because a persons mitochondrial DNA is always identical to that of their mother. So a woman could use her daughter’s egg because it would have her mitochondrial DNA but it would not contain her father’s. So a man would have to go to his mother because his DNA came from her… make sense?
Although, mitochondrial DNA is not extremely significant and most people would consider it a clone even if it had different mitochondrial DNA (although, in the strictest sense, this would not be a true clone)
Rae,
After dragging my son through high school kicking and screaming, he was required to take a calculus class to graduate. Calculus! Without even trying the darned kid pulled a B+. He thought it was child’s play. Obviously he didn’t get that from me. It also showed he had a brain he was refusing to use. He’s now a 3.0 in college. There is hope! Me, I just continue to write everything out. I mean, I have trouble with the bill and tip for my beautician and its not like she charges a fortune.
Midnite,
I have always been fascinated by psych though I never went into it extensively, just took required courses. I am convinced people are born wired a certain way and will turn out a certain way no matter what. Of course there can be environmental factors, I don’t discount those, but that’s just my opinion from years of observing people and circumstances, including my own family.
No, no. You’re all wrong. Foreign languages. That’s the way to go … although, to me, science-speak can be like a foreign language.
French, Italian, Greek, Irish (yes, it’s a language), Arabic, Portuguese, Thai … that’s the way to go!
No mental math required. Lots of traveling involved.
Yay!
guess I’ll try Jill’s question re. cloning …
there seems to be different views … the popular (media) view is that a duplication takes place … a kind of living photocopy.
The reality in science is somewhat different: each cell has a nucleus with DNA surrounded by a full-gel. Cloning then is the separation of these two … plunk in a DNA of choice and voila a clone.
Things are not quite so simple. It seems the full-gel part and the DNA-part are very much attached to each other and replacing new-DNA with the DNA that was originally there makes the mix highly unstable especially for sophisticated organisms (Dolly the sheep was by far the highest animal to have any kind of success.)
There are other considerations too …. cells do replicate in a limited fashion but only a few generate in any meaningful way … and this is determined by the type (contents) of the full-gel. The full-gel also harbours what is called M-DNA where M normally stands for ‘maternal’. Although this does not directly influence the structure of the clone, it will have much to say whether any organism will be alive very long. [M can also stand for ‘mitochondrial’ …. the cell’s energy stations.]
………………
Perhaps, unseen is a resolution to the debate ‘nature vs nurture’. Are we mainly products of DNA or interaction with environment?
Leah,
I have always been so envious of bi and multi-lingual people. I’m conversant in French and am teaching myself Spanish with Rosetta Stone. I also plan to study the French as well. My problem is with comprehension, I can read and translate pretty well, so I need a program where I listen to native speakers.
There was a young Nicaraguan-American woman who worked as a cleaning lady at our hospital. She was fluent and articulate in two languages, Spanish and English. She always very graciously let me practice my Spanish with her though I’m sure she could hardly keep a straight face. I thought what a gift this young woman has and what a living she could make with it. She could travel as a translator for large companies, work for the airlines or cruise ships, free-lance. She ends up pregnant by some loser,not once but twice, now has two children and collects welfare.
“No, no. You’re all wrong. Foreign languages.”
I have to take a foreign language for my major. I’m dreading the oral aspect of it. I have a difficult time understanding it when spoken.
Hey, just to let everyone know…I’m the “Alyssa” that posted here before…I was just home on another computer and I didn’t want Jill to think I was some impostor. Sorry if this caused any confusion. Sorry Jill…last time people were using names on different IP’s there was a witch hunt calling us fakes and liars….
Rasqual… TH had it right about what I was trying to say. I didn’t mean to confuse you. It’s really really interesting stuff. (Being a bio major, I find it fascinating).
Rae: Ugh…I had to run really long PCR’s before….13 hours a day in a lab for 2 weeks straight tends to make one completely CRAZY. Plus don’t even get me started on what happened when another time my agarose gels came out with NO bands whatsoever. I wanted to die. I spent SO LONG on them.
Lyssie, thanks for your thoughtfulness!
Mary: That’s too bad for that woman. I really hope everything works out for her.
Heather: I know the feeling. When I first got to France it felt like words were flying at me, but I could only identify two or three per phrase, tops–absolute *tops*. Seriously, the only way to get good at conprehension (and speaking as well) is to PRACTICE–especially with native speakers.
Also make sure to tell them to correct you if you make a mistake. I always used to feel bad for correcting people’s English, but now that I’m learning other languages, I understand that more often than not, people *want* to be corrected!
Now I correct people’s French. :)
Yay languages!
As for cloning … we’re wandering back to science now … not my strong suit.
Je vous aime tous … m
Mary: That’s too bad for that woman. I really hope everything works out for her.
Heather: I know the feeling. When I first got to France it felt like words were flying at me, but I could only identify two or three per phrase, tops–absolute *tops*. Seriously, the only way to get good at conprehension (and speaking as well) is to PRACTICE–especially with native speakers.
Also make sure to tell them to correct you if you make a mistake. I always used to feel bad for correcting people’s English, but now that I’m learning other languages, I understand that more often than not, people *want* to be corrected!
Now I correct people’s French. :)
Yay languages!
As for cloning … we’re wandering back to science now … not my strong suit.
Je vous aime tous … m
Welcome back Alyssa. Honestly, I thought it was you.
Ahh! I tried to add something on the end of my schpiel and I ended up double posting! ((siiiiiiigh))
Ah, I can’t wait til the higher level bio courses. They’re so interesting. I’m not totally sure what I want to do when I graduate, but as a law minor/bio major, I have a lot of options. I’m leaning toward being possibly an oncologist…but I have a lot of school left to do so. And nearly as much if I became a medical patent lawyer. Fun Fun. :)
Hahaha, I missed this blog…it’s just that my wireless router wasn’t working at home and using my home computer was the only option. I have missed you guys….and where’s MK?
Leah,
Merci, je vous aime aussi, et tous les gens ici. C’est vrai, nous ne sommes toujours pas d’accord, mais c’est la raison c’est est tres interessant. Il faut que nous parlons anglais ou Jill ne sera pas hereuse.
If I didn’t write that as well as you Leah, try not to laugh too hard.
I’ve noticed that French Canadians are much easier to understand, its like listening to another American. I know what you mean about listening to the French, they might as well be speaking Greek.
My suggestion to anyone studying a language is to download Rosetta Stone. It really makes learning a language convenient, easy, and even fun.
TH, Lyssie — OK, so you mean that men would have to do so in order to have identical DNA throughout the cell? If that’s what you meant Lyssie, I understand. I had wondered whether you meant some other sense in which cloning depended on the donor egg’s pedigree.
Rasqual, that’s exactly right. Women have more leeway with this. Men are restricted to whatever female mitochondrial DNA they have available from their mothers’ or sisters’ egg cells (if they wanted to clone themselves, that is).
Jasper,
I saw that! It was hysterical…
Think he’s at home right now contemplating it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibqwKb4cCsg
and they say there’s no God! Hah!
Mary–
No! That was good! Almost perfect, in fact. I wouldn’t laugh … especially considering how miserable my French was when I first got here.
Leah et Mary, vous avez raison. On devrait parler anglais.
Jill,
We know! It was just kind of fun. Your French is excellent by the way. Would you like that in Spanish? (smiling)
Leah,
Thank you. I did put an extra “est” in there though! How I wish I could converse with someone on a regular basis, mais c’est la vie.
Thanks for the compliment on the French. I’ll pass it along to my French major daughter… :)
“French, Italian, Greek, Irish (yes, it’s a language), Arabic, Portuguese, Thai … that’s the way to go!”
Leah, please teach me some Irish!