Quote:
Originally Posted by Scribbler1
That shouldn't be a problem. From where I sit it looks like the issue is so controversial that meat processors who don't use cloned meat will want to label their meat as NOT coming from cloned steers, and will probably do a better business because of it.
It may not be to ahyone's advantage to make a point of telling consumers it IS from clones.
But a clone isn't made of "old matter". The animal grows from a fertilized egg the same way as from normal fertilization. The only difference is in the DNA that tells the cells how to develop. Cloned DNA is identical to the original instead of a mix of both mother and father. The only thing "old" is the handful of molecules that kicks the whole process into gear.
|
Well, Dolly's DNA
was 'old'- telomeres are regions ono the ends of the chromosomes that aren't replicated (at least, not after a certian point in development), so they become shorter with each replication. Dolly's telomeres were short; 20% shorter than would be expected for her age. She also developed diseases that are typical of old age by the time she was middle aged, for a sheep. This is also why most human and animal cell lines don't last forever in culture- they run out of telomeres. Unless they are 'immortalised' by turning on the gene for telomerase, an enzyme that lengthens them after each replication. Cancer cells usually have this turned on allready, as part of their transformation into a cancer.
OK, I'm rambling..I'll shut up now.