A Doe, a Deer, a Deer, a Deer...

Orne writes "Texas A&M University has announced it has successfully cloned its 5th species, the North American White-Tailed deer (see press release). Though the white-tailed deer is a common species, they hope they can use the knowledge to help repopulate endangered species of deer, like the Key West deer of Florida."

Comments

Keepp

[thebatlab]

Well the whole "repopulate" argument is just another way to justify what they are doing. Helping nature repopulate itself is the next logical step for humans as we tend to think we are above nature.

Maybe if we started to realize that in nature, species die off. It happens all the time and hasn't been just recently b/c of humans. Yes, we've caused our share of destruction but has it ever been analyzed against prior species domination?

I'm sure the sabre-toothed tiger never sat back and thought "Shit, i'm killing off these wooly mammoths like crazy! I better think of a way to encourage repopulation before they're extinct!". It just thought "Hey look! It's my next meal to ensure my survival".

Re:Keepp

[Lead Butthead]

I'm sure the sabre-toothed tiger never sat back and thought "Shit, i'm killing off these wooly mammoths like crazy! I better think of a way to encourage repopulation before they're extinct!". It just thought "Hey look! It's my next meal to ensure my survival".

Flawed analogy; animals hunt because they're hungry. Humans hunt for ENTERTAINMENT (mostly.) Name ONE sabre toothed tiger (or for that matter, any animal) that has deer heads mounted on their dwelling walls, and brags to others of their species of their "magnificant" kills...

Re:Keepp

[phorm]

That's one part of the arguement: but there are many factors and sport killing is just one.

Massive overhunting is another, look at how we're depleting world fish stocks. I don't think sport wishing is what's causing this.

The other major factor is of course pollution, and destruction of habitat. Ol' Sabre may have hunted down some mammoths with tooth and nail, he didn't destroy where they lived with piles of toxic shit and clearcutting.

Re:As if there was any doubt

[TykeClone]

I'm more concerned about loosing a couple of kids.

Having said that, deer are more of a threat to people than any bears or cougars would hope to be. I just read that deer/car collisions cause more than $1 billion in damage per year, hurt thousands of people, and kill more than 200 per year. They're as dangerous as the Iraqi army.

Age of Cloned Animals

[darkmeridian]

Telomeres regulate the age of chromosomes. Animals cloned from adults exhibit signs of advanced aging prematurely. There are transcription factors and the like in the host "egg" that are not being compensated for. Cloning healthy animals from adults may be harder than it seems.