From: Damien Broderick (thespike@earthlink.net)
Date: Mon Dec 30 2002 - 00:47:46 MST
There's also the vexed question of telomere ablation. Is Dolly's goose
cooked, and will the same be true of a little Raelian, starting out aged
30-something? Here's a typical recentish web report:
http://www.jhu.edu/hurj/issue1/researchUpdate/ResearchUpdate_Yassa_Cloning.h
tml
< Recent developments in the cloning arena should not give a false sense of
security in its safety, practicality and promise of better health. Recent
studies in mice have suggested that clones may develop health problems or
even die prematurely in later life. Some cloned mice became obese even
though they did not overeat. A study published in February by scientists in
Japan found that mice cloned from somatic cells had a significantly shorter
lifespan than matched controls. Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute in the UK
recently commented on the cloning process emphasizing how cloned embryos are
vulnerable to epigenetic change. Wilmut's research was responsible for
bringing Dolly the sheep into existence in 1997. Dolly was the first mammal
to be cloned from adult stem cells. In May of 1999, research suggested that
Dolly might be susceptible to premature aging. Structures at the ends of
chromosomes named telomeres decrease in length with age. Researchers
examined Dolly's telomeres, and reported that the structures were slightly
shorter than would be expected in a sheep of her age that was born normally.
Five and half year old Dolly was brought back into the spotlight in January
2002, when Wilmut and his group announced that she had developed arthritis.
It is unclear whether or not this is a complication arising from the cloning
process, but this incident has increased the public's concerns about the
efficacy and ethics of cloning. This unfortunate incident was after she had
given birth to six healthy lambs. >
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