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Mouse Cloned From Drop of Blood

Posted by timothy on from the vampire-mouse dept.

Ogi_UnixNut writes "Scientists in Japan have succeeded in cloning a mouse from a drop of blood. From the BBC: 'Circulating blood cells collected from the tail of a donor mouse were used to produce the clone, a team at the Riken BioResource Center reports in the journal Biology of Reproduction.' The female mouse managed to live a normal lifespan and could reproduce, according to the researchers."

12 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. I see .... by PPH · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... thousands of nerds chasing Natalie Portman with needles.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  2. Star cloning controversy by EmperorOfCanada · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Rich people cloning pets will be a mild controversy but mostly due to the money wasted. Some ego maniac cloning themselves will make the news. Then some people will clone lost loved ones causing a certain creepy factor news bite. But the cloning that will really make the news is when some company will claim (initially fraudulently) that they have the DNA of a variety of stars so you too can not only have Brad Pitt's baby but that the baby will be Brad Pitt. That is when the creepy factor will completely cross into the public discussion with all the legal, ethical, moral water cooler philosophizing that the news-people and their pundits can then do.

    Basically this will bring a 1,000 sci-fi books to life (but in a sad and pathetic kind of way).

    I'll start by asking: what do you with the kid if Hitler is cloned? Does Mr. Pitt owe child support to any of his clones? Or does Brad Pitt's father owe child support to the clones?

    1. Re:Star cloning controversy by ArcadeMan · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What do you with the kid if Hitler is cloned?

      Nothing. Apart from looking like the original, he'll be raised differently by different people in a different environment and so he won't be the same person. A clone is just a biological copy, not a psychological one.

      Does Mr. Pitt owe child support to any of his clones? Or does Brad Pitt's father owe child support to the clones?

      No and no.

      It's not even valid questions, you'd need incredibly twisted logic and totally ass-backward laws to support these ideas.

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    2. Re:Star cloning controversy by excelsior_gr · · Score: 3, Insightful

      you'd need incredibly twisted logic and totally ass-backward laws to support these ideas.

      Now you got me worried...

    3. Re:Star cloning controversy by EmperorOfCanada · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually this could get weird. Here is a story of a guy who donated sperm to a lesbian couple with contracts protecting him. Then the couple went on welfare so the state is now going after him for child support.

      http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/sperm-donor-sued-child-support-article-1.1232394

      As for the Hitler kid. It is not so much that the kid would be a genocidal monster but would have the crushing weight of history on him. I suspect that regardless of his predisposition that there would be groups calling for his blood (bad pun).

      The key here is that cloning is going to result in some screwed up situations.

      Let's say a serial killer has 5 clones made before he is caught. Then the first 4 (all raised differently) go on a killing spree themselves. What do you do with the 5th?

      Then what about the billionaire who has 300,000 clones made of himself by paying 300,000 women $10,000 each to be impregnated with his clone. (For the low price of $3 billion.)

    4. Re:Star cloning controversy by Nimey · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If it gets out that he's a cloned Hitler (or Boston Strangler, or Jeffrey Dahmer, or whatever) the kid could never have a normal life - he'd be in the fishbowl forever, because of a choice somebody else made. That right there makes it unethical.

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  3. Re:Does this mean... by RussR42 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hitler clone

  4. I don't want to be a Epsilon by billybob_jcv · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Cloning smart people or beautiful people or athletic people is NOT the problem. The problem is when they decide to clone stupid people as servants & laborers. when the creation of slave classes of low-intelligence clones becomes economically viable, it will become a commercial, not social activity.

    1. Re:I don't want to be a Epsilon by elucido · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Cloning smart people or beautiful people or athletic people is NOT the problem. The problem is when they decide to clone stupid people as servants & laborers. when the creation of slave classes of low-intelligence clones becomes economically viable, it will become a commercial, not social activity.

      Why bother? Machines make better servants and smart people can build them.

  5. Sniff... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Funny

    You think they can bring back my old dog, Smokey? I've still got one of his paws in my sock drawer.

    He was the best. And I learned about how babies were made from watching Smokey with my family members' shins.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  6. Normal-looking offspring were obtained from all... by Trax3001BBS · · Score: 3, Informative

    "Normal-looking offspring were obtained from all four strains tested."
    Link from article http://www.biolreprod.org/content/early/2013/06/25/biolreprod.113.110098.abstract)

    One scary a$$ line, indicates a 100% success rate.

    The ramifications of what's implied are numerous and cover every aspect of our future.

  7. Re: Yeah, well by DigiShaman · · Score: 3, Informative

    Minus the fact genetic mutations and corruption takes place over time from the original zygote. That, and the telomeres are shorter. Unless they solved that problem via resetting the length however. I doubt it though.

    --
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