cloning

Chinese scientists have created live mice from mature skin cells that had reverted to an embryonic-like state. The scientific success could further defuse controversy over harvesting embryonic stem cells, but also raises new ethical issues about potentially making clones selected for specific traits.

There were a lot of heroes on and after 9/11, and as the the Kennel Club reminds us, not all of them were bipedal. Now, one of those courageous canines has been brought back to life through cloning.

Trakr, a German shepherd who assisted with search and rescue in the rubble of Ground Zero, died in April. However, Trakr's DNA was saved, and BioArts International produced five clones of the dog. Yesterday, the clones were presented to James Symington, the Canadian police officer who led Trakr through the wreckage of the World Trade Center.

Over the past decade or so, seeking federal funding for embryonic stem cell research has been a little like slamming one’s head into a brick wall. Funding was banned all together in 1996, and then President Bush loosened the ban slightly (some say negligibly) by allowing funding for embryonic stem cell lines created before August 2001. Yet, this past March, the barricade seemed to be crumbling when President Obama gave an executive order to remove the ban. But wait, all you stem cell researchers. Not so fast.

What if you could carve off a chunk of the most succulent slab of steak you´ve ever eaten, clone a bull from it, then produce weeks of identically delectable dinners?

This January, news that South Korean scientist Hwang Woo Suk fabricated research on cloned human stem cells brought more negative attention to an already controversial field. Hwang´s work had been believed to be a breakthrough. His technique for cloning embryonic stem cells genetically matched to patients might have been used by scientists worldwide to cure disease.