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whitehead home > research news > on topic > cloning |
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Cloning
Despite major technological advances in the techniques used to clone mammals, and notwithstanding the many optimistic scenarios put forward by cloning advocates, two seemingly insurmountable problems plague scientists’ attempts at mammalian cloning: Very few clones survive long enough to be born, and those that do often are grotesquely large or otherwise malformed. Researchers at Whitehead Institute have identified the root causes of many of these fundamental cloning problems in research papers over the past three years.
Video |
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In this Director’s Lecture
for Nonscientists, Whitehead Member Rudolf
Jaenisch paints a clear picture of what is and
is not scientifically feasible in cloning. Animal
cloning used non-reproductive cells to create a
carbon copy of the donor animal. This technique
fails frequently and yields severe abnormalities.Consequently,
Jaenisch believes the cloning of humans will never
prove practical. [view video] |
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Whitehead Member Rudolf
Jaenisch addresses the biology of human cloning
as part of the presentation "Human Cloning
and Human Rights: Promises and Perils." The
lecture series, sponsored by the MIT Program on
Human Rights and Justice, is available for viewing
at MIT World. [view video]
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During nuclear transfer
to accomplish cloning, the nucleus from a donor
cell is injected into an emptied egg. The egg resets
the developmental clock of the donor nucleus and
the reprogrammed cell develops into an embryo. In
reproductive cloning, the embryo is implanted in
the uterus. [view QuickTime
video]
video: Kevin Eggan |
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Last updated February 8, 2006. |
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