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More Clones!
randy_harvey writes "Another University has taken the leap into the fray of cloning animals today. This time it's the University of Idaho in Moscow, ID. They have successfully Cloned a Mule!"
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It will hardly help them discover if a clone can reproduce naturally.
If you think 6 is too few, clone your own reasons!
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6. Doesn't everyone need a Mini Me?
5. It would be kind of cool to go to a Halloween party as the Matrix ghost twins, wouldn't it?
4. If someone clones you without permission, sue them under the DMCA.
3. You can still sleep in and miss that exam, and take the exam too.
2. With enough clones, some weapons, and a camcorder, anyone can make a better "Attack of the Clones" movie than George Lucas did
1. Halle Barry's for everyone!
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Geesh. The are probably a bunch of jackasses who haven't even thought through the ramifications of this. I could probably preach here all day till I am hoarse about the recklessness that is going on here by these cowboys. They are probably too mule-headed to care though.
Norris/Palin 2012
Fact: We deserve leaders who can kick your ass and field dress your carcass.
A way to get mules that doesn't involve getting a horse drunk enough to jump a donkey!
The original runs just fine under several C64 emulators.
P.S. I heard this on NPR yesterday, so it couldn't have been today.
Have you ever actually seen two mules? I wasn't aware there were any that weren't completely identical. Well, if you can't beat'em, join'em...
/me "clones" a potato
Time will tell, but since Funny Cide is a gelding, and can't stud, I predict he'll be cloned.
;)
And just maybe by time this comes to pass the Slashcode search engine will actually be able to find this comment so I can show people. Hmmm, which is more likely?
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
"Time will tell, but since Funny Cide is a gelding, and can't stud, I predict he'll be cloned"
Based on experiences, clones are often sickly animals; not really tolerable in a race-horse.
How will they take advantage of Funny Cide's winning bloodline? They are selling the stud services of Cide's sire, Distorted Humor.
For those of you using AOL, Funny Cide's father is not a gelding.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Now we simply need to have a cow contest to find...
The World's Tastiest Cow
At which point we can start cloning it for mass consumption! Imagine, you can now own your very own "World's Tastiest Cow" in your very own back yard! The look on your neighbors face when you tell them you're still considered vegan because this cow has already been killed so when you eat it you can't be killing it - it was cloned dead!
Moo.
-Adam
Great...now CowboyNeal can get a date!!
This is an interesting discovery, in that it proved that specific technical limitations could be overcome. However, I don't really buy the reasoning that this discovery could lead to cancer treatments. Just because male horses do not develop prostate cancer, does not mean that there is something special about their cellular physiology per se. Most of the humans that I have heard of that have prostate cancer are over 50. I have not heard of many horses living over 50. I would think that in general horses have a lower incidence of cancer than say humans because they do not live as long.
However, I could very well be wrong. This subject is slightly outside my field of expertise, but I do understand the science behind this advance well enough to know why it is newsworthy. If the advance does lead to cancer treatments all the better, but I am not holding my breath.
It seems that every time another mammal is cloned, people reincarnate the debate about the morality of human cloning. Morality aside, the difficulty with human cloning really lies in the current brute-force method of achieving the pregnancies. The team established 14 pregnancies using mule DNA in 113 attempts. Eight of the pregnancies continued to at least the 40-day stage when heartbeats were detected. The 12% chance of getting pregnant at all, followed by the 43% chance that you will miscarry if you do conceive, results in a really difficult job of recruitment. Want human clones? Develop artificial womb.
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is.
Even sickly, it might still be able to reproduce, and thus make money as a stud. It'd require a heck of a lot of faith in genetics, though, to actually sell that to breeders.
Based on experiences, clones are often sickly animals; not really tolerable in a race-horse.
Horses frequently live into their 20's and 30's. I suspect they'll have the technique and be able to deal with the telomere problem by then...
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Lets all celebrate with a moscow mule. Moscow idaho that is.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
On the grounds that the mule is a clone, I demand they nickname it Duncan Idaho Gem!
Actually, there have been instances of mules breeding such as this one in Morocco , though it is rare.
A horse produced through cloning would not be considered a thoroughbred, so such a horse would be worthless as a stud.
The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
Hmmm... After they have successfully cloned the mule they set their sights a little higher. They attempted to clone other animals that can't reproduce; themselves.
clone we all know you mean fuck, you
potatofucker!
This is fine and all, but lets just hope they don't clone The Mule.
Logic, macros, and more
A horse produced through cloning would not be considered a thoroughbred
Ok, it probably doesn't meet the technical definition.
so such a horse would be worthless as a stud.
Something is worth what people are willing to pay for it.
If I were a race breeder paying for stud services I would consider the clone of a thoroughbred valuable. I would expect the clone to pass on the same genes and most likely breed just as well as the original. However I would factor in uncertainty and risk because there could be unexpected effects from the cloning.
The value would be the value of the original discounted by the risk factor. Personally I'd take a wild guestimate that the risk factor is about 40%. I would offer about 60% of the thoroughbred premium.
Another foctor to consider in a case like this is that different people will make wildly different estimations of the risk factor. The people who estimate the smallest risk will be the highest bidders. In a supply/demand situation the highest bidders are the ones served. The price is therefore set by the optimists and the valuation will probably be somewhat inflated. That could push the price into the 70-80% range.
The apparent health of the clone will have a signifigant effect on people's confidence. If looks heathy and actualy races passably I'd exect up to a 20% boost in price, and if it is clearly sickly it could easily knock off 30%.
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
Soviet Idaho, mules clone you!
Nobody reads the good stuff any more? This scientist - he be scowler?