From: jeff davis (jrd1415@yahoo.com)
Date: Sat Mar 09 2002 - 23:08:48 MST
--- Harvey Newstrom <mail@HarveyNewstrom.com> wrote:
>
http://news.24.com/News24/Technology/0,1113,2-13_1154404,00.html
> >
> > Human clone claim
<snip>
> Yuck!
<snip>
> Human nuclear DNA plus cow mitachondrial DNA
<snip>
> A combination human-animal embryo?
Setting aside for the moment the public-relations
problem--admittedly the central point in Harvey's
post--might there be some clear benefit from such a
transgenic cellular chimera?
I saw a movie once where Mariel Hemingway was an
athelete in training, and her coach made a comment
about how she was part native American, and that her
strength or endurance were a consequence of the
'quality'--high-energy output--of her mitochondria.
Then I read in Sci Am about mitochondrial malfunction
and disease. Got me to thinking, "What is range of
variations in mitochondria, and what might be the
benefit of being able to control the 'quality' of
same?" Might hummingbird mitochondria give you huge
short-burst energy availability or unheard of
endurance? If mitochondrial durability is related to
aging, could right whale--life span now posited to be
200+(?) yrs-- mitochondria result in a substantially
extended life span. (Using Right whale eggs and one's
own nuclear DNA, you get replacement heart, brain, etc
tissues which mayhaps last a loooong time.)(OK,
getting a viable right whale egg may be tough, but you
only have to get one--or one batch anyway. Then you
clone a pig--you know one of those human
immuno-compatible transgenic oinkers--and use the
pigs-with-right-whale-mitochondria for your subsequent
egg supply.)
Point is, we talk all the time about dna mods, but
give short shrift to mitochondrial dna, which is
certainly behind mitochondrial quality. All manner of
different kinds of cells do all sorts of important
things. And they all rely on the mitochondria to
supply the juice to get the job done.
Leave the yuck factor to the luddites, I want my
high-performance mitochondria, and I don't care what
species it comes from (as long as it's compatible).
Best, Jeff Davis
"Everything's hard till you know how to do it."
Ray Charles
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