Re: Clone

[Oscar Quill <stonebugdotnet@yahoo.com>]

--- Steve  Brusatte <dinoland@lycos.com> wrote:

> To my knowledge, a complete strand of frozen DNA
> from any kind of prehistoric species of organism has
> not been found.  Perhaps I am wrong.  But if some is
> found, then perhaps this method would work.


Strictly speaking, I think getting DNA is the
_easiest_ step in cloning a specimen from scratch.

If biochemistry between the host and the creature
desribed by the DNA differs in any minor but
significant ways, it won't work.  If viable eggs are
retrieved from (say) a mammoth and inserted into a
modern elephant's womb, any number of things could go
wrong preventing an embryo from developing, including,
but not limited to:
        differing gestation periods
        differing growth hormone requirements
        differing nutritional/developmental needs

And once you do have a viable embryo, things like
appropriate gut flora, lack of immunity to modern
microbes, and diet issues could further complicate
matters.

It doesn't rule it out, but I think the organisms
would have to be amazingly similar for this process to
work.

As for the morality, I don't know where to stand on
that.  I think it's obviously useless to repopulate
the earth with Mammoths or Irish elk (or dinosaurs, if
it comes down to that).  Personally, I think it has
better potential for living species on the verge of
extinction due to loss of habitat, provided a way
could be established to ensure genetic diversity could
be maintained.

=====
.oO=-Oscar Quill is a nom de something for Scott Elyard-=Oo.
|    "The picture of a faithful alligator boundin' into    | 
|      daddy's lap ain't one the public is ready for."     |
|              --Walt Kelly (Beauregard)                   |
| Comic:         www.oscarquillandcoyle.org                |
`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'

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