Hey there!
Welcome to Life Noggin!
If you didn’t already know, Ronbus is my best friend.
He’s great, he's really good and soccer for some reason even though he's never played,
and I want more friends just like him...
Exactly like him.
It’s easy to clone in my world.
My animator can just copy and paste, and voila, I’ve got 20 best friends.
I am gonna need way more guacamole now.
But what if you wanted to clone your best friend or even yourself?
How would that even work?
Cloning is the process of producing a genetically identical copy of a living organism.
It can be done on many scales, from replicating basic DNA to a complete genetic copy of a
living thing.
Scientists have cloned a bunch of animals in the last 100 years, most notably, the infamous
Dolly the Sheep in 1996.
Now, we’ve got cloned cows, horses, cats, and dogs running around and just recently,
two cloned monkeys joined the party.
This part smells really bad guys...if we could just clean some stuff up a bit?
If we can clone primates just like monkeys, can we do it with humans?
The most successful and well-known method of cloning full living things is Somatic Cell
Nuclear Transfer.
Scientists take an ovum from a female of the species they’re cloning and remove all the
DNA from inside.
Then, they take the nucleus of a somatic cell, like a skin cell, from the thing they want
to clone and insert it into the egg.
The egg is then implanted into a surrogate, who carries the egg until it’s born.
Now that scientists have cloned a non-human primate, we’re closer than we’ve ever
been to cloning a person, but there’s still a ways to go.
The success rate for these monkeys was super low, as it often is with cloning.
The scientists started out with 127 eggs and only ended up with 2 monkeys, meaning their
success rate was only 1.6%.
One of the biggest struggles with cloning primates has to do with spindle proteins.
They’re crucial in cell division and development, and, in humans, they reside in the nucleus
of an egg.
So, when the nucleus is removed to make room for the new DNA, those spindle proteins are
removed too, making embryonic development that much harder.
Say we found solutions to biological issues like this, navigated our way through the complex
ethical implications, and successfully cloned a human,
would your clone be just like you?
If you’re 5’ 10” with brown hair and blue eyes, maybe your name is Steve, who knows?
You’d expect your clone to look the same, right?
Isn’t that what cloning is?
Well you may be surprised to learn that your clone could look completely different!
Your appearance is based on genes, yes, but it also depends on the fetal environment you
grow in and which genes are turned off or on.
Your clone could also be very unhealthy.
Many cloned animals suffer from defected brains, hearts, and livers, and immune system problems.
In lots of clones, the tips of their chromosomes shrink quicker, meaning cellular aging happens
faster than normal too.
So your clone could be really sick and die prematurely.
Plus, your clone could have a completely different personality than you do!
While your personality is based on some genetics, it’s also formed through experiences and
upbringing.
Just because Ronbus is super friendly, motivated, and likes puzzles, doesn’t mean your clone
would.
The Ronbus clone could be mean, dishonest, and hate puppies!
So unless your clone had the exact same development and experiences you did, it really wouldn't
be you.
With all this being said, would you wanna clone yourself still?
Let us know in the comment section below.
and that's because in order to bring these animals back scientist need bits of their
genetic material that have been salvaged, and sadly DNA from dinosaurs hasn't survived
long enough to be used here.
As always, my name is Blocko, this has been Life Noggin, don't forget to keep on thinking!