What is exactly is cloning and do I need to worry about it?
Cloning is making a copy of a plant or animal by taking a cell from it and developing it artificially There is nothing new about this -------- plants were cloned in ancient Greece over 2000 years ago and the first cloned frog appeared in 1968. But interest in cloning grew in 1997 when Dr Ian Wilmut and his colleagues from Edinburgh University announced the birth of the world's first cloned sheep Dolly ( some people pointed out that science all sheep look identical anyway many people were worried: what if the same techniques were used from some rich elderly person to reinvent himself ; or if an evil dictator produced hundreds of copies of himself in order to take over the world ; or grieving relatives used cloning to bring their loved ones back to life? The truth is that there is no chance that any copy of human being would be identical either physically or mentally, any more than children are identical to their parents. The possible benefits of cloning, however, are numerous, for artificially producing human tissues and organs for transplant, and for preserving endangered animal species to name but two. Biologists have already genetically engineered headless frogs so it may in future be possible to clone headless humans whose organs could be used for transplants. But would we want to?
How can transplant from other animals help humans?
In one famous case a British girl born with a rare bone condition that left her with only one ear had anew one grown for her at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear infirmary in the USA. By taking cells from her exiting ear and transplanting them onto the back of a mouse, Scientists grew her another one, which could then be transplanted back. American scientists have also used sheep blood cells to make a universal blood which could be given to any patient, regardless of their blood group while British scientists are close to manufacturing artificial blood, with the aid of milk from genetically-altered cows and sheep. Scientists have also transplanted MONHEY'S head on to new bodies, paving the way for head transplants to be performed on humans, the monkeys were able to eat, drink and sleep normally. Robert White, head of neurosurgery at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio said the operation could be available to humans within thirty years, but the experiment has been condemned as an example of the disastrous route Western medicine is taking, in prolonging individual life takes precedence over everything.
Are we any nearer a cure for cancer or AIDS?
Although a definitive cure for cancer seems as elusive as ever, scientists have produced as impreesive list of things that might help prevent it: green tea, green salads, Brazil nuts, spinach kidneys, mushrooms, and even lipstick. And although no cure has yet been found for AIDS, extraordinary advances have been made in its treatment. Drugs called protease inhibitors can halt and perhaps even reverse the progress of the virus in the patient's body, so it may be that AIDS will soon no longer be an incurable disease. The problem is the expense: a course of treatment costs many thousands of dollars, and so will do nothing to stop the eidemic in poor countries, where the money would be better spent on preventing malaria, cholera and tuberculosis.
So what can we cure nowadays?
If you are a grey-haired, bolding, colour-blind, man who snores, there may be good news on the horizon. A doctor in England has announced that by adding a small amount of pigment to an ordinary pair of glasses he has been able to cure colour-blindnedd (though he admits he has no idea why it works!). A drug has been tested on dogs which stimulate muscles in their upper airway, thus stopping them from snoring. If it works for them, Why not on humans? To prevent grey hair, a special shampoo has been developed that fools pigment cells into producing melanin, which gives hair its colour, and there may now even be a cure for baldness: a pill which reduces levels of hormone dihydrotesterone, although there may be a less desirable side effect of a decreased interest in sex.
Why would anyone want to implant a computer chip into a human brain?
Could it be possible for all the things you need to know to be implanted in your brain on a silicon chip? Doctors at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Germany claim to have found a way of connecting nerve cells to a silicon chip. Such implants__ which has so far only been successful in rates __ could be used to restore vision to people who have become blind or repair nerve damage after a stroke, but also to increase human intelligence. In theory, chips could be programmed to include all the knowledge a human being is likely to need during their life, so eliminating the need for school work!
